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Immigrants at the Mexico-US border (stock image)
Photo: Felix Marquez / dpa
With a view to the approaching midterm elections, the situation on the US-Mexico border is likely to come into focus in the near and medium term.
Especially during election campaigns, the Republicans often use the movements of immigrants from Central and South America to stir up spirit among their own electorate.
And currently there are indeed remarkable developments.
A month before the end of a pandemic-related far-reaching restriction on immigration at the southern border with Mexico, the US government is preparing for an influx of migrants.
It can be assumed "that the number of migrants will increase," especially since smugglers are likely to abuse the new situation for their own purposes, according to a memorandum by Homeland Security Minister Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday.
The pandemic regulation is scheduled to expire on May 23.
Majorities in Congress are at stake in the midterm elections in the fall.
The elections are traditionally a kind of interim report for the incumbent president – whose party usually does not do particularly well on this occasion.
Vaccinations at the border are possible
The staff of the Border Protection Police (CBP) has been increased by around 600 officers to around 23,000 employees, it said.
In addition, the tasks of around 500 officers were taken over by civilian employees in order to have further reinforcements available for the "crucial task of border protection".
The capacity to hold illegally entered migrants in custody has increased from around 13,000 places a year ago to 18,000 now.
From May 23, migrants would also be offered corona tests and vaccinations at 24 CBP centers, the ministry said.
Ministry admits possible problems
The US health authority CDC announced at the end of March that it would abolish the regulation known as “Title 42”, which enabled the authorities to quickly deport most migrants who had entered the country illegally.
In March, around 107,000 people were deported under the regulation, according to CBP data.
Mayorkas has stressed that the abolition of the regulation does not amount to carte blanche for migrants.
Immigration law will be "strictly" implemented.
The examination of asylum applications should also be accelerated.
The ministry acknowledged on Tuesday that a "significant" increase in the number of arriving migrants is likely to put "considerable" pressure on the existing system of border management.
The system can only be fundamentally changed by the legislature.
"We are operating with a fundamentally broken immigration system that only Congress can fix," it said.
jok/dpa
