Mexico City.- The Government of President Joe Biden will begin to immediately expel Haitians, Nicaraguans and Cubans who arrive illegally at its southern border to Mexico, the White House announced, as part of new measures to strengthen border security and reduce the flow of migrants who seek to enter the country without documents, and who are mostly fleeing situations of insecurity, violence, poverty and repression.
The announcement comes a few days before Biden travels to Mexico to participate in the summit of North American leaders with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and in which migration will be one of the main topics.
In a document published hours before the US President gave a live statement, the White House specified that the measures announced today were agreed with Mexico and other governments in the Western Hemisphere.
Citing it as successful, the United States Government will expand the process implemented with Venezuelan migrants in October 2022 to migrants from Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua. This implies that travelers from these countries who seek asylum in the US must start the process from their countries of origin, and those who arrive at the border will be immediately expelled to Mexico, which has promised to receive 30,000 individuals each month.
“Up to 30,000 individuals each month from these four countries, who have an eligible sponsor and pass the screening and background check, can come to the United States for a period of two years and receive work authorization,” the document says.
“Individuals who cross illegally into Panama, Mexico or the border with the United States after the announcement date will not be eligible for the process and will be subject to expulsion to Mexico, which will accept the return of 30,000 people each month from these four countries.” .
According to the US government, these types of measures open the way for a safe, orderly and humane migration.
He added that new sanctions will also be imposed on those migrants who seek to enter illegally.
“Effective immediately, individuals who seek to enter the United States without permission, do not have a legal basis to stay, and cannot be removed pursuant to Title 42 will increasingly be subject to removal to their home country and a bar on reentry. five years,” he reported.
The majority of those removed under Title 42 are adults from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.
Although Mexicans continue to lead the number of arrests at the southern border, last fiscal year that ended in September 2022, migrants from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua surpassed Salvadorans, Guatemalans and Hondurans for the first time in history.
According to the Migration Policy Institute, which cites data from the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP), in fiscal year 2022 there were 571,000 meetings between Venezuelans, Cubans and Nicaraguans, against 520,602 for those from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
However, since Washington has no or limited diplomatic relations with the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, the expulsion of migrants to those places is difficult.
