Since the arrival of Joe Biden to the White House in January 2021, more than a million asylum seekers have arrived in the country, who are now awaiting the resolution of their cases in the immigration courts, a process that can take years due to administrative collapse. .
The arrival of migrants has skyrocketed during the Biden administration, but Title 42, a measure approved in 2020 by former President Donald Trump due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has allowed many of them to be expelled without the right to request asylum.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced in April that it planned to repeal the ordinance, prompting criticism and fears among Republicans that it could lead to a flood of migrants at a time when record arrivals were already being recorded at the border.
However, a federal judge ruled on May 20 that the government must keep the measure in place, saying ending it would violate federal law.
The Justice Department said it will appeal the ruling.
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Sept.
5, 202200:25
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Since the beginning of the Biden administration, there have been 4.1 million migrants intercepted at the border, according to data from the Customs and Border Protection Office analyzed by Noticias Telemundo.
That figure can include multiple attempts by the same person.
Nearly two million migrants were removed under Title 42 (again, the number may include multiple removals for the same person).
Another two million were processed under Title 8 (which allows the asylum application, but also the express removal of those who are considered “inadmissible”), and half of them, one million in total, managed to have their application processed and now they wait for the courts to decide whether they will be able to stay or should leave the country, according to an analysis by The New York Times.
During the first two years of Donald Trump's government, a million asylum seekers were also admitted to the country.
To all these figures must be added the migrants who cross the border without being intercepted by the authorities: in 2021, for example, there were 300,000 and 500,000 in 2021, according to calculations by the Migration Policy Institute based on data from the Border Patrol.
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Three migrants from Cuba arrive on US soil after crossing the Rio Grande River in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Sunday, May 22, 2022. Dario Lopez-Mills / AP
A system to the limit in immigration courts
Asylum seekers face an overcrowded system: More than 1.8 million cases are pending in immigration courts and an average wait of three and a half years just for a first hearing, according to Syracuse University's TRAC program.
About a quarter of pending cases have not yet received their first citation.
Because many files are not resolved at that first appointment, more than 100,000 asylum seekers have been waiting more than six years to find out if they will be able to stay in the country.
There are two types of asylum applications: those of immigrants who are intercepted at the border (known as affirmative) and those of those who were already inside the country and presented them when faced with the possibility of being deported (known as reactive).
[Most asylum seekers in Los Angeles have no legal support and face deportation
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In general, the waiting time for a hearing is shorter in affirmative cases, with an average of four years, compared to an average of four and a half years in reactive cases.
But the waiting lists have multiplied in the last decade for both: by two in the affirmative, and by 14 in the reagents.
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The government implemented changes to the asylum system in late May to shorten the wait times between when an immigrant crosses the border and a judge decides whether they should be deported or allowed to remain in the country.
The change will allow asylum officers, not just immigration judges, to process applications, and will also give priority to reviewing the files of those who have just arrived.
But as long as Title 4 remains in effect, its impact may be limited.