Is there little memory or precise plans?
The new Democrats apparently do not remember that Trump’s electoral victory in the 2016 presidential election was precisely because of his platform on controlling the border between Mexico and the United States, increasing national security and enforcing the law.
More than 2.4 million migrants were intercepted by land between October 2022 and September 2023, a flow also higher than previous years. But that is only the figure that the Biden government offers about those detained by immigration agents in the United States, not including the tens of thousands who are not detected.
The federal government opened the two closed railroad crossings on Friday, after severe pressure from the private companies in charge and Republican lawmakers.
Since last Tuesday, the railroad tracks at the Eagle Pass and El Paso bridges in Texas have been closed due to a “resurgence” of illegal entry of migrants on freight trains, according to the government, but US railroad companies did not support that assertion.
Union Pacific and BNSF are the two carriers affected by the rail closures in Texas. Between them, about 24 trains typically use the rail systems each day to move agricultural products, auto parts, finished vehicles, chemicals and other consumer goods, according to the Association of American Railroads.
Union Pacific estimated its losses — in goods, wages and transportation costs — would exceed $200 million a day if crossings in both cities remain closed.
The company said the two crossings represent 45% of its cross-border operations and that it cannot reroute trains to other access routes.
Union Pacific and BNSF use law enforcement, federal agency agreements and technology to deter and detect smuggling and people entering the country illegally. Union Pacific has a system that uses gamma rays to detect unwanted passengers.
Union Pacific He said that, in the last five weeks, He only found five migrants who were trying to enter the United States illegally on board their trains.
“Through our efforts, at both ports of entry we have encountered very few people attempting to cross the border by train,” BNSF said in a statement.
The other immediate objective
The closure seems more like a White House appearance measure to please to the Republicans with the purpose of approving the new package of 106,000 million dollars, which includes more than 60,000 million dollars for Ukraine.
The intention of the Biden government may also be to demonstrate that containing the migratory flow causes a significant economic impact, when in reality the opposite is true, as demonstrated by President Donald Trump during his term.
At Eagle Pass, vehicle crossings have been suspended again since the beginning of the month, as have a crossing point in Arizona and another in California. The border police say they are having to redeploy their personnel to focus on intercepting and registering migrants.
After accusing President Biden of “deliberate inaction” Faced with the situation, the Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, signed a law for the safety and protection of his citizens that penalizes illegal entry into his state.
In the face of Biden’s lack of leadership for almost three years, the law creates a “criminal offense of illegally entering Texas from a foreign country,” with sentences of between six months and 20 years in prison in case of repeat offenses.
The legislation, which goes into effect in March, gives state authorities the power to arrest immigrants and deport them to Mexico, prerogatives that initially fall to federal authorities.
In the last 33 months, Texas has been possibly the border state most affected by the Biden government’s irresponsible Open Door policy, a continuation of the Obama administration’s platform (2008-2016).
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, despite being a Democrat, also accused the Biden administration of “refusing to do its job”, blaming it in particular for the closure of a border crossing in her state. Hobbs announced on December 15 that he was sending National Guard forces to the border.
The reasons for the new wave of migrants
The pressing reasons for this recent influx are not so clear.
Border police blame “misinformation spread by human traffickers towards vulnerable people.”
Several immigrants interviewed in Texas by the AFP news agency spoke of rumors about an imminent closure of the border. “There were rumors that starting on the 20th they would no longer let anyone in,” explained Yurianlis Alexmar Camacho, 32, who arrived from Venezuela with her husband and her four children.
Washington ordered to send its Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and its Minister of National Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, to Mexico to analyze, together with the president of that country, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, ways to stop this massive flow, the House announced on Thursday. White.
“The president understands the need to repair the immigration systemwhich has not worked for decades,” insisted its spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre.
Republicans agree that changes must be made to the country’s immigration system, but not in the way that Democrats demand, but rather on the basis of stricter regulations for a orderly, planned and lawful immigration federal national security.
On Dec. 6, Biden said he was willing to make “significant compromises” with Republicans, who are demanding control and accountability in the White House’s immigration policy in exchange for lifting his congressional blockade on more funding for Ukraine.
Biden also finds himself up against the wall to respond to his “progressive” (socialist) electorate, who expect the president to break with Donald Trump’s policies from all angles, a radical stance that has put him in a tailspin in all national polls. , even those with a marked leftist tendency.
In any case, the flow does not appear to be close to reversing.
Panama noted on December 6 that since the beginning of the year, half a million people had crossed the dangerous Darien jungle, which separates this country from Colombia, to reach the United States, double the number in 2022.
Meanwhile, the 45th president of the United States Donald Trump continues to lead all the polls, both for the Republican primaries and for the presidential elections in November 2024. The former president maintains an advantage of more than 50 points for the primary elections and among 6 and 8 points over Biden in voting intentions for the Presidency.
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Source: With information from AFP, AP and other sources.
