HomeWorld NewsSpike in U.S.-Mexico border crossings fuels political tensions as Title 42 ends
Spike in U.S.-Mexico border crossings fuels political tensions as Title 42 ends
June 25, 2023
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[1/5] A young migrant boy waits for some food at the border fence while migrants gather between primary and secondary border fences, as the United States prepares to lift COVID-19 era Title 42… Read more
SAN DIEGO/WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuters) – The U.S. will lift COVID-19 border restrictions known as Title 42 on Thursday night, a major shift that has drawn tens of thousands of migrants to the U.S.-Mexico border, straining local communities and intensifying political divisions.
The number of migrants caught crossing illegally has climbed in recent weeks, with daily apprehensions surpassing 10,000 on Monday and Tuesday. U.S. border cities have struggled to shelter the new arrivals and provide transportation to onward destinations.
In the backdrop of the chaotic scenes, U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is surging personnel and funds to the border while implementing a new regulation that will deny asylum to most migrants who cross the border illegally. The new measure will take effect when Title 42 ends along with the broad COVID public health emergency.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the new rule would mean tougher consequences for migrants crossing illegally who, if caught, could be deported and barred from the United States for five years if they do not qualify for asylum.
Republicans fault Biden, a Democrat seeking reelection in 2024, for scrapping the restrictive policies of Republican former President Donald Trump, his party’s frontrunner for the presidential race.
But in recent days, Biden administration officials have escalated their attacks on Republicans, saying they failed to fix immigration laws or provide adequate border funds.
“I asked the Congress for a lot more money for the Border Patrol. They didn’t do it,” Biden told reporters on Wednesday.
The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives aims to pass a bill on Thursday that would toughen border security and restrict access to asylum, but it would face an uphill battle in the Senate, where Democrats hold a narrow majority.
Since Biden took office in January 2021, the country has seen a record 4.6 million arrests of migrants crossing illegally, although the tally includes many repeat crossers. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released this week showed that only 26% approved of Biden’s handling of immigration.
In Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott, a fierce critic of Biden’s border policies, expanded an ongoing National Guard deployment this week “to help intercept and repel large groups of migrants trying to enter Texas illegally.”
When asked on Wednesday whether Texas National Guard troops were overstepping legal boundaries by taking on border enforcement duties, Mayorkas said he deferred to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Reuters Graphics Reuters Graphics
SMALL CHILDREN IN TOW
With the Biden administration saying it will toughen enforcement under the new asylum standard, some migrants have scrambled to cross while Title 42 remains in effect.
Hundreds of migrants in San Diego, California, including many small children, have been stuck in a no-man’s land between two tall border walls, often for days, as they wait to be processed by overwhelmed U.S. border agents.
On Wednesday, volunteers on the U.S. side passed sandwiches through the gaps in the wall and said conditions between the two walls were “squalid” as confusion reigned over the change in policy.
Joshua, 23, a migrant from Venezuela who requested that Reuters use only his first name, hoped to enter the U.S. before the policy shift. He traveled to the border in Tijuana, Mexico, without his wife and daughter, not wanting to bring them through a dangerous jungle separating Colombia and Panama, he said.
“With God’s protection, nothing is impossible,” he added.
Another Venezuelan migrant, Luis Rivero, speaking through the border fence separating Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas said this week that he wanted to cross now because the new policy “will be stricter.”
Reporting by Mike Blake in San Diego, Ted Hesson in Washington and Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City; Additional reporting by Jose Luis Gonzalez in El Paso, Texas, and Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Editing by Mary Milliken and Jamie Freed
Mike Blake is a senior photographer with Reuters and a member of the Pulitzer Prize winning team for Breaking News Photography in 2019. He began his career with Reuters in Toronto, Canada in 1985 and has traveled the World covering Olympic Games (18 in total) and World sporting events as well as breaking news and feature stories. Previously based in Vancouver and now Los Angeles, Blake attended Emily Carr College of Art and began his career making prints at a major daily newspaper. Blake grew up skateboarding and taking pictures and continues to do so now in his spare time.
Ted Hesson is an immigration reporter for Reuters, based in Washington, D.C. His work focuses on the policy and politics of immigration, asylum and border security. Prior to joining Reuters in 2019, Ted worked for the news outlet POLITICO, where he also covered immigration. His articles have appeared in POLITICO Magazine, The Atlantic and VICE News, among other publications. Ted holds a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and bachelor’s degree from Boston College.
