Biden opens the way for the reunification of separated immigrant families in the Trump era

A migrant family crosses the Mexican border in Ciudad Juárez to El Paso (Texas), in the United States, on February 26.Christian Chavez / AP

US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas has accused the Donald Trump Administration of dismantling the immigration system.

"Frankly, they gutted him," he said in an appearance in which he insisted on migrants not to travel to the border, while hundreds are already camped out waiting to process their asylum applications and the arrival of minors is skyrocketing.

Mayorkas has vowed to seek options for migrant families separated during the Trump era to reunite on American soil.

He assured that the Government of Joe Biden is working jointly with Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador on this issue.

"It takes time to get out of the depths of the cruelty that the previous Administration established," Mayorkas said.

The senior official said they are working around the clock to resolve that issue, while Biden receives pressure from their ranks to get rid of the anti-immigration offensive launched by Trump.

One of the most urgent for the Democratic president is the reunification of parents separated from their children under the policy of "zero tolerance."

The Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) said it was a "moral imperative" to reunite families.

In the last month they have managed to gather 105;

almost 500 parents have not been located.

The Government intends to reunite families in the United States or in their countries of origin: "We hope to be in a position to give them the choice."

In the event that they choose to do so on US soil, the Biden Administration "will explore legal avenues for them to remain in the United States and family needs are addressed."

The DHS secretary recalled that Title 42, invoked by Trump in March 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, which closed the southern border to non-essential activities, is still in force.

According to Mayorkas, the measure, which has caused migrants who want to request asylum to be rejected, has remained "in the service of public health."

Under Biden, the United States began receiving about 26,000 asylum seekers - most of them Central Americans - who have active cases in the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program so that they can wait for the decision. of judges in the United States.

Despite calls for migrants not to travel to the border, hundreds still sleep in camps and shelters.

To this must be added that the number of minors who arrive without their father or mother has increased to more than 300 daily in recent weeks, four times more than last fall, according to

.

This has forced the Government to set up new detention centers in Texas.

On this complex panorama, Mayorkas assured that what is on the border is not "a crisis", but "a challenge."

The Secretary of National Security reported that last Friday he made a round of calls with the Foreign Ministers of Honduras, Lisandro Rosales, of Guatemala, Pedro Brolo and of El Salvador, Alexandra Hill Tinoco, in which he addressed the "global approach "Of the Biden Government for" irregular migration, including a regional strategy to address the roots and improve its management. "

The Joe Biden Administration is working on a plan so that they "do not have to undertake the dangerous journey" and can access humanitarian aid from their countries of origin.

Mayorkas's appearance is the prelude to the virtual meeting scheduled for this Monday between Biden and the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, where migration will be one of the main topics.

The DHS secretary is expected to participate in the meeting as well.

Subscribe here

to the EL PAÍS América newsletter and receive all the informative keys of the current situation in the region.