Biden on new White House immigration initiatives

President Joe Biden gave a speech on the situation on the border with Mexico and the additional measures the White House intends to take to strengthen border security.

The Biden administration plans to expand restrictions imposed at the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic, so-called “Title 42,” to expedite the process of removing migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti apprehended while illegally crossing the US-Mexico border from US territory. According to official figures, in November 2022 alone, 82,000 migrants from these countries were apprehended at the border with Mexico.

At the same time, the White House will increase migration quotas for the above states and Venezuela to 30,000 people per month who can legally enter the U.S. through airports.

The plan is part of a broader White House effort to curb record numbers of migrants trying to enter the U.S. through the Mexican border.

A senior Biden administration official, announcing the president’s speech, told reporters earlier Thursday that “some important steps we are taking to not only expand legal avenues of migration into the United States, but also to continue to punish those who try to enter the United States illegally.”

“The legal avenues that we are announcing today provide great opportunities, but at the same time there are serious consequences for those who try to circumvent them,” the administration official said.

In addition, he said, migrants who cannot be sent back to Mexico will increasingly face rapid deportation, known as “expedited removal.”

“Section 42” was introduced by the Trump administration in March 2020 and now allows for the rapid deportation of migrants from Mexico, Venezuela and some Central American countries back to Mexico, without the possibility of seeking asylum in the United States.

Biden urges Republicans in Congress to stop blocking his proposals for immigration reform and border measures, and to provide the necessary resources to make them a reality.

The White House chief will visit the border city of El Paso, Texas, before traveling to meet with Mexico’s president.

It will be Biden’s first trip to the Mexican border since taking office in January 2021. Republicans have criticized the Biden administration, accusing him of inaction in securing the U.S. southern border and for his “open border” policy. Biden administration officials say they are trying to create a more orderly and humane system for migrants seeking asylum in the United States.

In 2022, U.S. border guards detained 2.2 million migrants trying to enter the U.S. illegally across the border with Mexico. Almost 50 percent of those apprehended were quickly removed from the U.S. under Section 42.