Biden lands in El Paso to discuss border crisis with Mexican authority

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
9 Jan 2023 00:09
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Us President Joe Biden and Homeland Security Secretary travel to Mexico to discuss migrant crisis.

President Joe Biden shakes hands with Texas Governor Greg Abbott upon his arrival in El Paso on Jan. 8, 2023 (Reuters)

US President Joe Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas landed in El Paso, Texas, on Sunday afternoon to tour the US southern border amid scores of migrants illegally entering the US since he assumed office, Sputnik noted.

Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, and Oscar Leeser, the mayor of El Paso, welcomed Biden and informed him of the critical need to address the ongoing border crisis.

According to a report released by the US government on January 2nd, the number of migrants deported in 2022 increased by 29% to 4.7 million.

Statistics published by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) division pertaining to the Department of Homeland Security, US border guards reportedly detained at least 2.3 million migrants in the last year, which record more than any previous year.

The 2.3 million figure represents a 37% increase over the previous figure of 1.7 million detentions. According to reports, CBP officials have detained at least 465,000 migrants since the new fiscal year began in October.

The procedure is as follows: after crossing the US-Mexico border, migrants are held at a CBP facility until they are released by border officials and served with documents to appear in court, at which point they are no longer in federal custody and are free to travel across the country, but many are still waiting months for case hearings due to legal and procedural backlogs.

2,000 migrants await Title 42 status on US-Mexico border in harsh cold

Title 42, a Trump-implemented policy that allows the United States to immediately deport migrants that are seeking asylum directly after they cross into the country, is holding over 2,000 migrants at the US-Mexican borders in the cold winter weather as they wait to see if President Joe Biden will rescind the policy.

The migrants have established a temporary camp inside the Mexican territory near the US borders.

The policy was briefly rescinded In November of 2022 after being fought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in court, however, it was later reinstated by another US judge the day after.

The decision gave Biden's administration 5 weeks to get ready to manage the entry of the large number of migrants waiting on the border.

"Biden is supposed to eventually let people pass through, but more orderly. That's what we're waiting for, but a lot of people [migrants] have already turned themselves in," Enmanuel Ferrer, a 16-year-old Venezuelan, told Sputnik, as he waited with his 3 younger siblings on the borders with the rest of the migrants.

"Every day, about 500 people cross [into the United States]. A line even forms to enter into the United States," the young migrant stated.

"A lot of people cross over because they don't want to be here anymore [the makeshift migrant camp along the river of the border]," Ferrer continued.

"They don't want to be here during the winter. At night the cold is strong. We each have to cover each other with five blankets."

Ferrer also added that while the majority of the migrants are from Venezuela, there are also others present from different countries, such as Colombians, Guatemalans, and Haitians, among other nationalities.

"Over there we had a house, we had everything, but the problem is the economy. There are no good jobs, it's not enough to live and eat, it's hard," Ferrer said, describing the state of his country which caused them to leave and seek entry to the US.