SAN DIEGO/WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuters) – The United States will lift the COVID-19 border restrictions known as Title 42 on Thursday night, a major change that has drawn tens of thousands of migrants to the border between the U.S. and Mexico, having the local communities. and intensifying political divisions.
The number of people caught crossing illegally has increased in recent weeks, with daily arrests exceeding 10,000 on Monday and Tuesday. US border cities have struggled to accommodate newcomers and provide transportation to other destinations.
As of Wednesday morning, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had more than 28,000 migrants in custody, well beyond its stated capacity and in what appeared to be a record, a US official said, calling on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal operations.
CBP did not respond to a request for comment.
Against the backdrop of the chaotic scenes, President Joe Biden’s administration is ramping up personnel and funds at the border as it implements a new regulation that will deny asylum to most migrants who cross illegally. The new measure will go into effect when Title 42 ends, along with the public health emergency of COVID.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the new rule would mean tougher consequences for migrants who cross illegally, who could be deported and barred from the United States for five years if they don’t qualify for asylum.
Republicans blame Biden, a Democrat running for re-election in 2024, for discarding the restrictive policies of former President Donald Trump, a Republican seeking to retake the White House.
In recent days, Biden administration officials have stepped up their attacks on Republicans, saying they have failed to fix immigration laws or provide adequate border funding.
“I asked Congress for a lot more money for the Border Patrol,” Biden said Wednesday. “They didn’t.”
The administration sought more than $4 billion in December to address a broken immigration system, Mayorkas said Wednesday.
“We got about half of what we asked for, half of what we needed,” he told a news conference.
The US Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business organization, urged Congress to provide “significantly more resources” for the border and expand legal immigration.
“Congress cannot stand idly by and let this mess continue unabated,” Executive Vice President Neil Bradley said in a statement.
The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives aims to pass a bill on Thursday that would tighten border security and restrict access to asylum, but faces an uphill battle in the Senate, where Democrats have a narrow majority
Since Biden took office in January 2021, the country has recorded a record 4.6 million arrests of migrants crossing illegally, although the number includes many repeat crossings. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released this week showed just 26% approving of Biden’s handling of immigration.
In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, a fierce critic of Biden’s border policies, this week expanded a deployment of the National Guard “to help intercept and repel large groups of migrants trying to enter Texas illegally “.
Asked Wednesday if Texas National Guard troops were overstepping legal bounds in taking on border enforcement duties, Mayorkas said it had been granted to the U.S. Department of Justice.
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SMALL CHILDREN IN TOW
With the Biden administration saying it will tighten enforcement of the new asylum rule, some migrants have struggled to cross while Title 42 remains in place.
Hundreds of migrants in San Diego, California, including many young children, have been stuck in a no-man’s land between two high border walls, often for days, as they await processing by overwhelmed U.S. border agents.
On Wednesday, volunteers on the American side passed sandwiches through gaps in the wall and said conditions were miserable as confusion reigned over the policy change.
Joshua, 23, a migrant from Venezuela who asked that Reuters use only his first name, had hoped to enter the United States before the policy change. He traveled to the border in Tijuana, Mexico, without his wife and daughter, not wanting to take them through a dangerous jungle that separates Colombia and Panama, he said.
“With God’s protection, nothing is impossible,” he added.
Another Venezuelan migrant, Luis Rivero, speaking across the border fence that separates 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
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