The United States is awaiting a historic flow of migrants at its border with Mexico and is struggling to welcome unaccompanied minors, the US Minister for Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, admitted on Tuesday (March 15th).
"We are on track to have more people on the southwest border than we have had in the past twenty years,"
he said in a statement.
The situation
“is difficult.
We are working around the clock to manage it. ”
Read also: The United States expels migrants in defiance of all health rules
The growing arrival of unaccompanied minors,
"some of whom are only six or seven"
, poses the most difficult problem because, unlike adults, they are not returned to Mexico or their country of origin, stressed The Minister.
The reception structures of border guards dedicated to under 18s
"are overcrowded"
and the Ministry of Health
"is not able to accommodate the flows of single children that we know"
, admitted Alejandro. Mayorkas.
His statement comes as Republicans accused Democratic President Joe Biden on Monday of causing a call for air at the border by relaxing the migration policies of his predecessor Donald Trump.
The minister, however, defended the tradition of welcoming the United States.
"We are both a nation of laws and immigrants, it is one of our pride,"
he wrote.
In February, more than 100,000 irregular migrants were arrested at the border, including more than 70,000 single adults, nearly 20,000 family members and 9,457 unaccompanied minors.
Most families are returned to Mexico or their country of origin, under rules enacted to prevent the spread of Covid-19,
"except when Mexico is not able to receive them,"
said Alejandro Mayorkas .
Read also: The Biden administration overwhelmed by the influx of migrants
This is particularly the case in the Rio Grande region, bordering Texas where American structures are
"under tension"
, he admitted.
The senior official explained in particular the increase in the number of migrants by
"poverty, high levels of violence as well as corruption in Mexico"
, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
Born in Cuba, Alejandro Mayorkas recalled having
"come to this country as a baby, brought by parents who understood the hope and the promise of America"
.
“Today, young children arrive at our border with this same hope.
We can do it, ”
he concluded.
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