On Thursday night, a group of migrants passed through Gate 42 at the El Paso border wall, just after the Biden administration officially ended the Title 42 policy. A lawsuit has been filed by the ACLU and other groups challenging the new Biden administration restriction on asylum, which took effect on Friday. Father Arturo Bañuelas was present to show solidarity with the migrants and to ensure their rights were respected. The Biden administration has stated that the new asylum rule is intended to deter illegal border crossings while also allowing for the processing of asylum claims.
Posts tagged as “U.S.-Mexico”
Migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border are facing confusion and uncertainty due to the ending of Title 42 border restrictions, as the U.S. Border Patrol sets all-time records for 24-hour periods in processing migrants. Local officials and volunteers are struggling to provide aid to the increasing number of migrants, many of whom are fearful of retribution from immigration authorities.
The Biden administration has finalized a sweeping restriction on asylum that will disqualify migrants from U.S. protection if they fail to request refugee status in a third country before arriving in the United States. The regulation is intended to discourage illegal immigration and protect the safety of migrants, while also reducing the backlog of asylum cases in the U.S. immigration system. Hundreds of U.S. asylum officers have been trained to enforce the restriction and it is expected to be published on Wednesday, just before Title 42 is set to expire.
The White House has issued a veto threat against the Secure the Border Act of 2023, a bill proposed by House Republicans to address immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border. The Office of Management and Budget said the bill would make elements of the immigration system worse, not better, and does very little to increase border security. The White House has urged Congress to reject the bill and instead focus on finding solutions that will actually increase border security and uphold the nation’s core values and international obligations.
The Biden administration is preparing for a record surge in migration across the southern border when Covid restrictions end in May. To address this, the administration is expected to announce the establishment of immigration processing centers in Latin America on Thursday. The administration is also working to increase the number of beds available in detention centers and shelters, as well as provide additional resources to process asylum claims, though it is unclear how effective the new processing centers will be.
Two former associates of Steve Bannon, Brian Kolfage and Andrew Badolato, have been sentenced to four years and three months in prison for their roles in the fraudulent We Build The Wall fundraising campaign. The two men were accused of using the money for personal expenses, including luxury vacations and home renovations, and had diverted more than $350,000 from the campaign for their own use. Bannon, who served as a top adviser to President Donald Trump, also faces fraud charges in connection with the campaign and is awaiting trial.
Two migrants were found dead and at least 10 hospitalized after police in South Texas received a call that they were “suffocating” in a freight train near the U.S.-Mexico border. The train was stopped by US Border Patrol near the town of Knippa, northeast of Uvalde, and Union Pacific is working with local law enforcement and the Border Patrol to investigate the incident. The identities of the deceased and the hospitalized individuals have not been released and the cause of death is still under investigation.
Two people are dead and 10 others hospitalized after an unknown medical emergency on board a freight train in Uvalde County, Texas, on Friday. The incident is being investigated as a suspected human smuggling operation, and Union Pacific, the railway company operating the train, said four of the 10 hospitalized patients were flown to facilities in San Antonio. The cause of the medical emergency is still unknown, and the incident has raised concerns about the safety of migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.