What to expect as Biden sends 1,500 troops to US-Mexico border | Migration News

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Refugee advocates are calling on US President Joe Biden to stop militarizing the country’s southern border with Mexico, after his administration announced it would send 1,500 more troops to the area.

Tuesday’s announcement by the Department of Defense would bring the total number of active duty troops deployed on the border to 4,000.

This is in addition to the thousands of National Guard personnel that Texas Governor Greg Abbott has sent to the border as part of Operation Lone Star, according to Fernando Garcia, executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights, a immigration advocacy group based in El Paso, Texas. .

Now, without a doubt, we can say that the US-Mexico border is one of the most militarized borders in the world, Garcia told Al Jazeera.

The plan comes as the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency is also installing hundreds of surveillance towers to further secure the southern border.

Biden, a Democrat who recently announced his campaign for re-election, is likely trying to signal that he is tough on immigration, Garcia explained. But Garcia sees the situation at the border as a humanitarian crisis that cannot be resolved through deterrence.

This continues to perpetuate this idea that the border is a problem that can be solved by law enforcement, in this case the deployment of the army. It’s very wrong because it doesn’t recognize the nature of what we’re seeing, Garcia said.

The plan to increase troop presence on the border was unveiled a week before Title 42 of the public health order expires on May 11. Invoked in 2020 under President Donald Trump, Title 42 allowed US authorities to deport asylum seekers as part of the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The troops are expected to arrive by May 10 and will be stationed at the border for 90 days.

The Biden administration said the additional troops will play a support role, performing non-law enforcement tasks such as ground detection and surveillance, data entry and warehouse support.

The Department of Homeland Security also said troops would not interact with migrants and asylum seekers. But the agency said it needed additional troops to free up law enforcement to respond to an expected increase in migration after Title 42 ended.

Already, the southern border is seeing a huge spike in crossings, with more than 20,000 people detained by CBP at the end of April.

In recent months, the Biden administration has rushed to implement new policies and send resources to manage the backlog of arrivals who have waited months, if not years, to access the immigration system. .

Intimidation and deterrence

Bilal Askaryar, acting director of the Welcome With Dignity campaign, a coalition of human rights groups pushing for a more humane immigration system, said the administration had months to prepare for the end of title 42.

He was disappointed to see the Biden government respond with troops, in what he called a theatrical show of force.

We need to think about the type of message sent to small children whose only option was to come to the border with their parents, Askaryar told Al Jazeera. He added that many asylum seekers are fleeing violent instability in countries like Sudan and Afghanistan, only to encounter soldiers in camouflage uniforms at the US border.

Alvaro Huerta, director of litigation and advocacy at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, echoed those concerns.

The sight of soldiers can instill fear in asylum seekers fleeing violence from their own government, Huerta told Al Jazeera. Obviously, this can trigger some of the trauma that these people are running away from.

Having the military there, even if they’re not doing enforcement work, sends the message that we want to keep people out, Huerta said. He summed it up as a policy of intimidation and deterrence.

Instead of sending troops, he called on the Biden administration to send resources to communities to help welcome newcomers. We really want the administration to rethink this.

Members of the Texas National Guard set up a barbed wire barrier on the border between El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, May 3, 2023 [Christian Chavez/AP Photo]Asylum restrictions

Asylum is a legal procedure that allows refugees to seek refuge in a foreign country if they fear persecution in their home country.

Biden campaigned on a promise to restore access to asylum and bring a more humane approach to immigration. In August 2020, he said, we will restore our moral standing in the world and our historic role as a refuge for refugees and asylum seekers.

But the US president recently proposed a rule similar to a Trump-era measure that would prevent people from seeking asylum in the United States if they travel through a third country without first applying and refusing asylum there.

His administration is also reintroducing rapid checks similar to those put in place by Trump to manage the immigration backlog. It doubles exactly what he criticized, Askaryar said.

We are very concerned that the due process rights of migrants and asylum seekers will be curtailed, Huerta added, noting that people could be sent back to violence and even death.

This is what we need to remember, these are people who seek our protection, who should at least have their day in court to make their claim.

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