The Secretary of National Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, announced this Thursday in conversation with journalists that next week he will announce measures to mitigate the expected increase in the arrival of migrants at the border after the completion of Title 42 on May 11.
Mayorkas, who is facing Republican pressure in the House of Representatives and even the threat of impeachment for his immigration strategy, did not explain the measures he is preparing, although he did mention that he will increase places in detention centers.
Almost two million migrants have been returned at the border without the right to request asylum under the rule approved in March 2020 by former President Donald Trump, hiding behind the health emergency caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The acting commissioner of the Border Patrol, Troy Miller, explained in Congress this Wednesday, citing figures from the United Nations, that there are some 660,000 migrants in Mexico who could reach the border, and that the number of crossings could double, reaching 10,000 a day, after the end of Title 42.
Immigrants camped out along the border fence in El Paso in December.
John Moore/Getty Images
There will be a lack of places in the detention centers
Mayorkas, in a hearing on Tuesday before the Senate, insisted that border security is his priority and explained that he is looking for solutions to mitigate that increase, including a request for $4.7 billion in emergency funds from Congress.
The acting director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE), Tae Johnson, indicated for his part in a hearing that same day in the House of Representatives that he does not have enough places for all intercepted immigrants.
The Joe Biden government has reduced the capacity of ICE centers by a quarter, he explained, with a maximum of 34,000 places.
Thus, an increase in arrivals could collapse the system if resources are not expanded, he warned, leading to thousands of migrants being released on US soil.
"We are working with local communities to increase their reception capacity," said Mayorkas.
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More deportations but also legal avenues
The Government has anticipated that it is evaluating various measures to stop the arrival of migrants.
Among them is the possibility of preventing them from applying for asylum at the border if they did not ask for protection in one of the countries on their way to the United States.
Mayorkas said this Tuesday in the Senate that he will maintain the humanitarian parole program (of two years duration) that since October allows the arrival of 30,000 Venezuelan migrants who begin the asylum process from their country with a sponsor in the US and travel then by plane;
This measure, established at the same time that these migrants were included among those affected by Title 42, was later extended to Nicaraguans, Haitians and Cubans.
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“What we are doing is creating legal pathways so that they don't have to put their life and life savings in the hands of ruthless smugglers who are just looking to exploit them for profit,” Mayorkas said, and so that there are also “consequences for those who don't they take advantage of the legal channels that we offer”.
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In February, 22,755 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans arrived in the country with this humanitarian permit, almost twice as many as in January, according to data from the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP).
So far, the policy has led to a 97% drop in illegal border crossings by migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, according to authorities.
Expulsions under Title 8
“We are going to use our immigration authorities under
Title 8, which establishes a consequence for people who arrive between ports of entry and who do not have a legal basis to remain in the country,” the secretary further noted.
Title 8 is already implemented by the Biden Administration at the border: in February 2023 alone, authorities processed 82,407 migrants under this rule and placed in removal proceedings with a ban on returning for five years and criminal consequences if they try, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
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False (and dangerous) information
The end of Title 42 has also generated a series of campaigns that disseminate false or misleading information directed at the migrant community, and the federal government anticipates that this will intensify.
“We are targeting smuggling organizations that spread misinformation among vulnerable migrants and fraudulently induce them to undertake what they are led to believe is a safe journey, and it is any but not that, as we have tragically seen,” Mayorkas said.
Noticias Telemundo alerted this week about a user with almost 200,000 followers on the TikTok platform who said wrong in a video that Biden announced that "there will no longer be deportations" at the southern border as of May 11.
"He's wrong," immigration attorney Mario Lovo said of the video, stressing that Title 42 is not the only measure at the border and that after May 11 other rules involving deportation will continue to apply.
