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Asylum seekers: "Stay in Mexico" comes to an end (archive photo)
Photo: Veronica G. Cardenas / AP
US President Joe Biden is breaking with the tough migration policy of his predecessor Donald Trump: Starting next week, the United States will allow tens of thousands of migrants to enter Mexico who have previously had to wait for the decision in their asylum procedures in Mexico.
"From February 19, the Ministry of Homeland Security will start phase one of a program to restore the safe and orderly settlement (of migration) on the southwest border," it said in a statement.
According to the department, around 25,000 people have been affected by US policy to date.
Biden had previously directed the Department of Homeland Security to end Trump's controversial "Remain in Mexico" program.
As part of the program, which came into force in 2019, around 70,000 mainly Central American asylum seekers were sent back to Mexico after entering the USA, where they were supposed to wait for the outcome of their asylum procedures.
The procedure triggered a humanitarian crisis on the US-Mexico border, which was exacerbated by the corona pandemic.
In view of their situation, some asylum seekers tried to cross the border illegally, including with the help of people smugglers.
An official told journalists that the asylum seekers would first be tested for the coronavirus before being brought back across the border to the United States.
It is working closely with the Mexican government, international organizations and NGOs, the ministry said.
The asylum seekers should be able to come to the USA step by step.
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Migrants in Mexico are waiting for the decision in their asylum procedure (archive image)
Photo: Alejandro Hernandez / REUTERS
The new Homeland Security Minister Alejandro Mayorkas said the goal was to return to a "safe, orderly and humane immigration system."
The new US administration will reform immigration policies where they are "inconsistent with our nation's values."
Biden's change of course on the first day
On the day of Biden's inauguration on January 20, the Ministry of Homeland Security announced that no further migrants would be accepted into the "Remain-in-Mexico" program.
On Friday, Washington called on people waiting in Mexico "not to approach the border until directed".
Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador welcomed Washington's announcements.
López Obrador said at a press conference that he hopes to negotiate a program with Biden that will provide work visas for Mexicans and Central Americans.
"Your presence as a worker in the United States" is crucial to its economic strength, said the Mexican president.
About a week ago, Biden had already cashed in another Trump project.
Foreign Minister Antony Blinken had confirmed that the government would stop the controversial asylum agreements with Central American countries.
According to the agreement, migrants who came to the USA through Guatemala, Honduras or El Salvador had to apply for asylum there.
The agreement has now been suspended, so Blinken.
The process of completely ending the rule after the deadline has already expired has already been initiated.
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