MIAMI.- The Joe Biden Administration said that the number of migrants through the southern border had decreased, however, Border Patrol (CBP) records report a growth in the migratory flow through the San Diego checkpoint, California becoming in one of the main destinations for irregular immigrants, said lawyer María Herrera Mellado, an expert on migration and national security issues.
The specialist explained that for the first time in 25 years, San Diego has become one of the main destinations for immigrants whose first option was the southern border of the United States, exceeding the number of illegal crossings in areas such as Arizona and Texas for several weeks. this year, according to data from United States Customs and Border Protection.
It was a significant shift for a border hotspot that was at the center of the national immigration debate decades ago before falling out of the spotlight as migration flows shifted eastward, he said.
In April 37,370 people crossed illegally in the San Diego sector and turned themselves in to the Border Patrol to request asylum. The highest total that month in Texas was 30,393 in the El Paso sector.
He said that the CBP divides the nation into 20 geographic sectors, and nine of them are on the border with Mexico.
Although President Joe Biden’s administration strives to minimize the crisis at the border by ensuring that the number of migrants has been reduced, figures from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reveal another reality.
The entry of more than 2 million undocumented immigrants in just eight months of the current fiscal year, which exceeds the total number for 2021, the president’s first year in the White House and the starting point of the current immigration chaos.
The latest CBP report reveals that a total of 2,222,770 migrants have crossed illegally into the United States between October 2023 and May 2024.
Consolidated figures show that since Biden arrived at the White House, the number of registered migrants is 10,146,144, as of May. An unprecedented number.
More plans without achievements
The expert pointed out that the Biden administration has been announcing plans for legal migration that have not met the expected objectives.“Looking at the data, as of February 18, 2024, more than 147,000 people had applied to the initiative known as Safe Mobility Offices and of these 5,900 had arrived in the United States.”
Likewise, according to a report, 320,000 immigrants arrived at 43 US airports through parole or parole programs. humanitarian words between January and December 2023.
As of March 2024, more than 357,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela have been granted parole and allowed to enter with that Permit.”
Haitians were by far the largest group to use the program, with 138,000 people arriving from that country, followed by 86,000 Venezuelans, 74,000 Cubans and 58,000 Nicaraguans.
Unfortunately, and one of the main criticisms of this plan is that the US “let in people who did not prove they deserved it or did not prove they did not constitute a danger to the country.”
Capture votes
When asked about Biden’s announcement to grant legal status to people married to Americans by obtaining residency, the immigration expert said that “the measure seeks to capture the vote of Hispanic Americans and Americans married to an immigrant who is not legalized because he entered illegally mainly.”
He remembered that Currently, the law requires spouses of U.S. citizens who entered the United States without legal documents to leave the country in order to obtain permanent residency.
When people have been in the United States for more than six months without legal documents, upon leaving the country, the law imposes certain punishments for having been in the country without documents, the most common being a punishment of ten years for those over 18 years of age who have remained in the United States for more than a year without legal documents, explained Herrera Mellado.
Immediate relatives of citizens can apply for a waiver to be able to return to the United States without having to wait ten years outside the country if they can show that the separation would cause extreme hardship to the American citizen relative.
The process has been long and immediate family members have waited outside the country for many months or nearly a year.
Process under the new rules
The new process will allow spouses of US citizens to request forgiveness before leaving the countryThis change will help ensure that families of U.S. citizens are not separated for so long. It is important to know that this change is only for immediate family members of U.S. citizens.
This new process was developed in order to shorten the time that US citizens remain separated from their immediate family members while they are in the process of obtaining visas to become legal permanent residents of the United States.
Herrera Mellado said that this Administration is in a hurry to “clean up its image,” although he acknowledges that many people could benefit from the measure.
Border Patrol does not support Biden
Joe Biden said that the Border Patrol supports him, but the union that groups that control entity has denied it via his X account: “To be clear, we have never and will never endorse Biden.”
The National Border Patrol Union (NBPC) reaffirmed its stance against President Joe Biden, declaring that they have never supported the president’s border policies.
The NBPC reiterated its support for the Republican Party and its candidate for the White House, former President Donald Trump, due to his initiatives to stop the flow of migrants into the United States.
“Biden claimed that Congressional Republicans have blocked the hiring of thousands of Border Patrol agents. In reality, Republicans have funded more agents in recent appropriations bills despite Biden, not because of him,” the Border Patrol union said.
Source: INTERVIEW ATTORNEY MARÍA HERRERA MELLADO /DIARIO LAS AMÉRICAS
