New Measures Leverage Success of Venezuela Enforcement Initiative to Limit Disorderly and Unsafe Migration
While
the courts have prevented the Title 42 public health order from lifting
for now, the Biden-Harris Administration today is announcing new
enforcement measures to increase security at the border and reduce the
number of individuals crossing unlawfully between ports of entry. These
measures will expand and expedite legal pathways for orderly migration
and result in new consequences for those who fail to use those legal
pathways. They also draw on the success of the Venezuela initiative,
which launched in October 2022 and has resulted in a dramatic drop in
the number of Venezuelan nationals attempting to enter the United
States unlawfully.
The Administration is also
announcing that it is surging additional resources to the border and
the region, scaling up its anti-smuggling operations, and expanding
coordination and support for border cities and non-governmental
organizations. Importantly, the actions announced today are being
implemented in close partnership with Mexico and governments across the
Western Hemisphere.
While these steps will help address some of the most acute challenges at the Southwest border, they will not solve all of the problems in
an immigration system that has been broken for far too long. That can
only happen if Republicans in Congress who have spent the past two
years talking about border security quit blocking the comprehensive
immigration reform and border security measures President Biden
proposed on his first day in office, and opposing the billions of
dollars in additional funds the President has requested for border
security and management.
Unlike some
Republican officials playing political games and obstructing real
solutions to fix our broken immigration system, President Biden has a
plan and is taking action. Under the new enforcement measures announced
today, the Biden-Harris Administration will:
Impose New Consequences for Individuals who Attempt to Enter Unlawfully
To facilitate a return to the processing of all noncitizens under Title 8 authorities when Title 42 eventually lifts, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is:
- Increasing the Use of Expedited Removal. Effective
immediately, individuals who attempt to enter the United States without
permission, do not have a legal basis to remain, and cannot be expelled
pursuant to Title 42 will be increasingly subject to expedited removal
to their country of origin and subject to a five-year ban on reentry.
- Announcing New Measures to Encourage Individuals to Seek Orderly and Lawful Pathways to Migration. DHS
and the Department of Justice today are announcing their intent to
propose a new regulation that would encourage individuals to seek
orderly and lawful pathways to migration and reduce overcrowding along
the southwest border and the strain on the immigration system.
Expand Legal Pathways for Safe, Orderly, and Humane Migration
The
Biden-Harris Administration and its international partners in the
region are also announcing new and expanded legal pathways to the
United States and other countries that individuals can and should use
to avoid consequences for crossing the border unlawfully. These include:
- Expanding the Parole Process for Venezuelans to Nicaraguans, Haitians, and Cubans. Today,
the Biden Administration is announcing it will extend the successful
Venezuela parole process and expand it to nationals of Nicaragua,
Haiti, and Cuba. Up to 30,000 individuals per month from these four countries, who
have an eligible sponsor and pass vetting and background checks, can
come to the United States for a period of two years and receive work
authorization. Individuals who irregularly cross the Panama, Mexico, or
U.S. border after the date of this announcement will be ineligible for
the parole process and will be subject to expulsion to Mexico, which
will accept returns of 30,000 individuals per month from these four
countries who fail to use these new pathways.
- Tripling Refugee Resettlement from the Western Hemisphere. The
Biden-Harris Administration intends to welcome up to 20,000 refugees
from Latin American and Caribbean countries during Fiscal Years 2023
and 2024, putting the United States on pace to more than triple refugee admissions from the Western Hemisphere this Fiscal Year alone. This delivers on the President’s commitment under the Los Angeles Declaration for Migration and Protection to scale up refugee admissions from the Western Hemisphere.
- Launching Online Appointment Portal to Reduce Overcrowding and Wait Times at U.S. Ports of Entry. When
Title 42 eventually lifts, noncitizens located in Central and Northern
Mexico seeking to enter the United States lawfully through a U.S. port
of entry have access to the CBP One mobile
application for scheduling an appointment to present themselves for
inspection and to initiate a protection claim instead of coming
directly to a port of entry to wait. This new feature will
significantly reduce wait times and crowds at U.S. ports of entry and
allow for safe, orderly, and humane processing.
- New Legal Pathways to Other Countries Across the Region. Countries across the Western Hemisphere are delivering on their commitments under the Los Angeles Declaration to
expand legal immigration pathways. Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and
Belize are each implementing new regularization or temporary protection
policies to provide legal status to hundreds of thousands of migrants.
Canada, Mexico, and Spain have expanded refugee resettlement and
temporary work opportunities. Mexico and Guatemala have also
significantly grown their asylum system. Individuals are encouraged to
avail themselves of this wide range of legal pathways in the region and
avoid the dangerous consequences of irregular migration.
- Increasing Humanitarian Assistance in Mexico and Central America. The
United States is announcing today nearly $23 million in additional
humanitarian assistance in Mexico and Central America. This new
assistance will help governments in the region respond to the increased
humanitarian and protection needs of migrants, refugees and other
vulnerable populations in their care. Recognizing that no one country
can respond to these needs alone, this assistance will help support
shelter, health, legal assistance, mental health and psychosocial
support, water, sanitation, hygiene products, gender-based violence
response, livelihoods, other protection related activities, and
capacity building for partners.
Surge Resources to Secure the Border, Disrupt Criminal Smuggling Networks, and Support Border Communities
The
Biden-Harris Administration is surging resources and expanding efforts
to securely manage the border, disrupt the criminal smuggling networks
preying on vulnerable migrants, and support communities receiving
migrants as they await their immigration enforcement proceedings. New
and expanded efforts include:
- Mobilizing Record Resources for Safe, Orderly, and Humane Processing of Migrants. The
Biden Administration is marshalling available authorities and resources
from across the Federal Government to help ensure the border is secure
and well-managed when the Title 42 public health order eventually
lifts. DHS and DOJ are surging asylum officers and immigration judges
to review asylum cases at the border more quickly – with the aim of
reducing initial processing times from months to days. The two agencies
are also expanding capabilities and technologies to support faster
processing, including by installing hundreds of phone lines and privacy
booths to conduct these interviews and proceedings. DHS is also hiring
and deploying additional agents and officers to join the over 23,000
already working to secure the border. In addition, DHS is significantly
scaling up its air and ground transportation capabilities to quickly
remove migrants when warranted or transport migrants to less-congested
border sectors for further immigration enforcement proceedings.
- Taking Thousands of Smugglers off the Streets and Countering Smuggler Misinformation. In
Los Angeles earlier this year, President Biden announced a first-of-its
kind operation against the multi-billion-dollar human smuggling
industry. Since April, this operation has led to over 7,300 arrests,
forcing many criminal smuggling organizations out of business. The
Administration is also taking on the smuggler misinformation. The
Department of State is expanding its paid and earned media outreach to
ensure timely and accurate information is reaching migrants. Messaging
and outreach will target high out-migration communities and migrant
routes through relevant communications channels (e.g., radio, digital,
trusted partners, and more.) with an estimated reach of over 85 million
potential migrants
- Expanding Coordination with and Support for Border Cities, Receiving Communities, and Non-Governmental Organizations. The
Biden-Harris Administration is increasing funding available to border
cities and those cities receiving an influx of migrants, in addition to
strengthening ongoing coordination and collaboration across all levels
of government. DHS is also expanding outreach efforts with local
jurisdictions to provide coordination of resources and technical
assistance support and the Administration has been facilitating
coordination between state and local officials and other federal
agencies. Additionally, the Administration will continue to mobilize
faith-based and non-profit organizations supporting migrants, including
those providing temporary shelter, food, and humanitarian assistance
before often reuniting with family as they await the outcome of their
immigration proceedings.
The
Biden-Harris Administration will do everything within its authority and
available resources to manage this challenge, but until and unless
Congress delivers the funding as well as comprehensive immigration
reform measures President Biden requested, the United States’ broken
immigration system will indeed remain broken.
###