A few hours before the expiration of the health rule known as Title 42, the Joe Biden Administration again insisted on its message that "the border is not open" and that those seeking asylum in the United States must use legal and safe ways to migrate.
"Data continues to show that, when there is a legal and orderly pathway, people are less likely to put their lives in the hands of traffickers," the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement Thursday.
The legal avenues to which the Biden Administration refers mainly include the humanitarian parole for migrants of certain nationalities, a family reunification program for others and a debated mobile application that allows you to request asylum appointments before presenting yourself at a port of entry.
We tell what each of these routes consists of and who can choose them to immigrate to the United States:
🛬 Humanitarian 'Parole'
In October 2022, the Biden Administration, motivated by the success of a program promoted for Ukrainians, established humanitarian parole for migrants from Venezuela as a measure in the spirit of controlling the crossings of Venezuelans on the southern border, which reached record numbers.
Under this program, migrants are granted legal stay and work authorization for two years, although to qualify they must meet a series of requirements, the main one being to get a sponsor in the United States.
[Biden stops by 97% the arrival of Cubans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans to the southern border after tightening measures]
With the parole, the numbers of Venezuelan crossings plummeted and the Government decided to expand it in January 2023 to people from Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti, whose nationals were also arriving at the southern border in high numbers.
Peruvian migrants seeking asylum in the United States hug as they wait to board a bus during processing by Border Patrol agents in Yuma, Arizona.Mario Tama/Getty Images
The most recent reports from February and January from the Office of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported a drastic drop in encounters with migrants of these nationalities, while the numbers of those who enter with that humanitarian permit have increased:
- In January, 11,637 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans arrived in the United States with the humanitarian parole.
- In February, the figure rose to 22,755, including immediate family members applying for the benefit.
- In January and February, encounters with migrants of these nationalities – at ports of entry on the southern border – fell by 97% and 98% respectively, compared to December 2022.
After the fall, authorities assured that "the new border control measures are working," Troy Miller, acting commissioner of the CBP, said at the time.
[CBP Reports 42% Drop in Southern Border Migrant Crossings]
This program was legally challenged by a score of Republican states that allege that it is "illegal" and that the federal government is usurping a role that does not belong to it by granting the parole. The judge in charge of the case will decide on the matter in June. If it rules in favor of the plaintiffs, this would complicate the outlook for the Biden Administration after the end of Title 42.
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"It is incomprehensible that some states that can benefit from these very effective measures intend to block them and provoke more irregular immigration on our southern border," Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, reacted at the time.
👨 👦 👧 👩 Family Reunification Program
DHS announced in late April that it would expand a family reunification parole program, enabled for Cubans and Haitians, to migrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Colombia.
Applicants will be evaluated and must have passed the I-130 process or Alien Relative Petition to obtain this permit. To apply, petitioners must have received "an invitation from the National Visa Center of the Department of State" and apply for "permission to remain temporarily under these processes" for their family members in "Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti or Honduras."
[Biden to expand family reunification 'parole' for migrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Colombia]
"Petitioners must receive an invitation to participate in these processes, and invitations have not yet been issued. We will update this webpage and make public announcements when invitations are issued," U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said May 10.
The Government will grant a travel permit to those selected who will obtain a "temporary stay permit" and may apply for an employment authorization.
Launched in 2007, the Cuban Family Reunification parole, unlike the humanitarian parole, requires that an immigrant visa petition filed by a relative in the United States has been approved.
📱Asylum Appointments by the CBP One App
CBP One is the mobile application created by the Biden Administration for migrants to schedule an appointment "to present themselves at a port of entry for inspection and processing" in the United States.
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Despite the end of Title 42, it will continue to be used to "ensure a safe and orderly process" between migrants who want to apply for asylum in the United States, said DHS, which promised to enable additional appointments for people who want to schedule one and solve some problems that have been reported by migrants, including the complexity of scheduling an appointment for families of several members.
📑 U.S. Pledges to Double Number of Western Hemisphere Refugees
The Biden Administration said that, among its plans, is to increase the number of refugees from the Western Hemisphere, although sources consulted by Noticias Telemundo said that this process is more "complicated."
"The United States is committed to hosting thousands of additional refugees per month from the Western Hemisphere, with the goal of doubling the number of refugees the United States committed to receive," DHS said.
He promised to "further increase the resources and personnel of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program in this region."
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Refugee applications, unlike asylum applications, must be made from the migrant's country of origin.
Raquel Aldana, a law professor at the University of California, Davis, told Noticias Telemundo that in recent decades the numbers of these grants have been too low.
"For example, last year there were only 15,000 refugee visas that were granted to the entire continent of the Americas," Aldana explained to Noticias Telemundo, specifying that for Africa, on the other hand, there are 40,000 available.
"The shelter system is super complicated," Aldana said. "Applications have to be adjudicated and sometimes it takes years, but the problem has also been the shortage of those visas."
This includes: establishing country-specific and other available processes to seek parole for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit; expanding opportunities to enter for seasonal employment; putting in place a mechanism for migrants to schedule a time and place to arrive in a safe, orderly, and lawful manner at ports of entry via use of the CBP One mobile app; and expanding refugee processing in the Western Hemisphere.