Washington (EFE) norm by which it has been carrying out hot expulsions during the pandemic.
To reinforce this message, the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), Alejandro Mayorkas, appeared this Thursday at the White House press conference together with the government spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre.
Mayorkas’s words were practically the same as those he delivered on Wednesday at a press conference at the DHS headquarters, but his appearance in the press room of the presidential mansion gave an idea of the urgency facing the US authorities in the border due to the increase in the flow of migrants trying to cross from Mexico.
will border it on
The person in charge recalled that as of next midnight “people who arrive at the southern border” will be subject to Title 8, the norm that has historically governed the emigration process and that will replace Title 42.
“This means that if someone arrives at our southern border after the next midnight they will presumably be ineligible for asylum and subject to more serious consequences for illegal entry, including a minimum five-year ban and potential criminal prosecution.” , he stressed.
He affirmed that they have reinforced the number of troops in the area and that they have been preparing for this moment for two years: “We are increasing to 24,000 Border Patrol agents, 4,000 soldiers, thousands of contractors and 1,000 officials and asylum judges,” listed.
He insisted that they expect large numbers of arrests of irregular migrants on the border with Mexico and that, in fact, they are already seeing large numbers in certain sectors.
Government measures
Mayorkas mentioned the measures that the Executive of President Joe Biden has adopted in recent weeks to deal with what is anticipated to be a major immigration crisis and assured that his country is applying harsher consequences against those who enter the United States irregularly.
“During the first half of this fiscal year we have expelled more than 665,000 people, we are carrying out dozens of deportation flights every week and we continue to increase them,” he said. Just yesterday we worked with the Government of Mexico to expel nearly 1,000 Venezuelans who did not use available legal avenues to enter the United States.”
He said that the US is working “closely with Mexico” and recalled the telephone conversation earlier this week between Biden and his Mexican counterpart, Andrés Manuel López Obrador: “Mexico is taking very important security measures that we greatly appreciate and that they have been taken in coordination with us,” he said.
migration crisis
In a separate telephone press conference, Blas Núñez-Neto, Undersecretary for Border Policy and Immigration at the Department of Homeland Security, stressed that the Government is listening, but does not “agree” with the criticism of human rights organizations against the New restrictions at the border.
The official assured that the measures that have been taken “are necessary” to face the migration challenge and affirmed that migrants “still have the right to request asylum at the border”, in addition to the fact that “legal channels” have been expanded.
“We respectfully disagree with these criticisms,” he remarked.
Mayorkas made it clear in his press conference: “We are a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws, we are doing everything possible to apply those laws in a safe, orderly and humane manner. We work with countries in the region to address a regional challenge with regional solutions and, again, we urge Congress to pass desperately needed immigration reform.”