Some 10,000 migrants wait in the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez, neighboring El Paso in Texas. And Thursday at 11:59 p.m., the device known as “Title 42” must end. It had been put in place during the pandemic in the United States and made it possible to deport migrants to Mexico without delay, in the name of the fight against Covid-19. The American authorities then fear a call for air on their southern border this week.
In Texas, the municipalities of El Paso, Brownsville and Laredo have declared a state of emergency to streamline the care of the many candidates for exile – mainly from Latin America, but also from China, Russia or from Turkey – already there. The mayor, Oscar Leeser, expects to have to deal with a wave of “12,000 to 15,000 people” at the end of the week.
Access to the US asylum system
“Title 42” was activated in 2020 by the administration of ex-President Donald Trump, in the name of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. His successor, Joe Biden, had extended its validity. In practice, this measure mainly prevented access to the American asylum system: migrants without visas were turned back, without being able to file an application. From Friday, this will be possible again and candidates for exile will be able to have their case processed by the courts. A process that can take years.
The end of this exceptional device arouses the ire of American conservatives. The Republicans promise a real migratory “chaos” and some of them consider that the United States is now in a “state of siege”. The Biden administration “rolls out the red carpet for people around the world,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott castigated on Monday, announcing that he was mobilizing his state’s National Guard to monitor the border.
Hardened rules
With the expiry of “Title 42”, the Biden administration has decided to send 1,500 additional soldiers to the United States border with Mexico, to support the 2,500 soldiers already assisting the police at the borders. Under the new rules which will apply from Friday, migrants who have entered the United States illegally will be able to apply for asylum, but it will be more difficult for them to prove the merits of their request. Those refused will be deported to their country of origin or to Mexico, and they will be prohibited from filing a new application for several years.
Candidates must also submit to an appointment system at border posts, via an online border police application. But the repeated malfunctions of the system frustrate many asylum seekers: some simply try their luck by queuing at the border.
Legislation “broken for some time”
Tension has risen further in Texas, since eight migrants were killed Sunday in Brownsville by a driver who ran into them at a bus stop. Police say the suspect ran a red light. He was charged with manslaughter.
In El Paso, the municipality provides buses to help migrants get to other places in the United States. A makeshift defended by Oscar Leeser, the mayor. US immigration law “has been broken for some time”, long before the Biden or Trump era, Oscar Leeser believes. “This is all endless and we really need to figure out which direction to take. »