However, Joe Biden opened the door to limited legal arrivals from four poor countries.
Washington:
President Joe Biden on Thursday warned undocumented migrants to stay away from the US border while opening the door to limited legal arrivals from four poor countries in a delicate balancing act on one of the country’s most explosive political issues.
Biden, who is expected to announce his bid for a second term soon, is trying to thread the needle on an issue where he faces pressure from both anti-immigration Republicans and left-wing Democrats who want more Arguing for human rights.
Calling the US immigration system “broken”, Biden also announced he would visit the US-Mexico border city of El Paso in Texas on Sunday, on the eve of the North American leaders’ summit in Mexico City, where border security would be an important issue. ,
Under his new plan, Biden said a controversial rule called Title 42 would be expanded to allow border guards to immediately turn away migrants arriving by land.
Biden, addressing Americans from the White House, warned, “Don’t just show up at the border.”
The White House hopes the tough measures will deter record numbers of migrants and asylum seekers from arriving after often perilous journeys by human traffickers.
To mollify critics on the left, the president said that 30,000 qualified immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela would be allowed into the United States each month.
They must apply in their home countries, have a US sponsor and pass a background check.
“It’s safe and it’s humane, and it works,” Biden said.
However, he added that fully fixing the system requires Congress to legislate and increase funding for border and immigration infrastructure.
And he blasted congressional Republicans for refusing to consider the more comprehensive reforms put forward by his administration, blaming “extreme Republicans” for years of impasse, and using immigration problems as an election issue. targeted to use.
– Title 42 Controversy –
White House proposals unveiled Thursday expand a similar program of limited legal access for Venezuelans that began in October. However, the use of Title 42 is at the center of a fierce debate.
The measure was implemented under the administration of Donald Trump, ostensibly as a health measure to reduce the flow of people during the COVID pandemic. However, human rights advocates and many in Biden’s Democratic Party said the use of Title 42 was an abuse of a health emergency by an openly anti-immigration president.
Biden’s administration is actually seeking to remove the rule and now awaits a Supreme Court ruling on whether it should stay or go. So his new embrace of the tool to restrict migrants – it allows border guards to deport illegal crossers without further process – is likely to cause an uproar among some in his party.
– No easy fix –
The US economy relies heavily on immigrant labor. However, unchecked migration along the long Mexico border, including large numbers of asylum seekers and illegal crossers often traveling through dangerous areas, has strained the system beyond easy repair.
Several presidents have failed to address this extraordinarily complex issue.
Trump came to power in 2016 in large part on his message that criminals, including rapists and murderers, were crossing the border. The incendiary rhetoric struck a chord in communities already beset by crime or the loss of jobs.
Biden, who defeated Trump in 2020, pledged to restore traditional American values at the border, grant asylum to asylum seekers and end harsh detention policies for illegal border crossers.
The issue is one of Biden’s main political weaknesses as he prepares for what his allies say will be his potential announcement of a bid for a second term in office.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
featured video of the day
Another mid-air peeing incident, now on a Paris-Delhi Air India flight