US warns migrants before pandemic restrictions end that border not open

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A day before the expiration of a pandemic-era rule that has been used to quickly deport migrants at the southern border, Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the Homeland Security Secretary, warned migrants on Wednesday against smuggling into the United States.

Our border is not open, Mayorkas said, adding that those who enter illegally will now face harsher consequences, including deportation from the country. Don’t risk your life and savings to be deported from the United States if and when you get here.

Mayorkass’ last-ditch warning came as officials brace for another influx of tens of thousands of migrants once Title 42, a Trump-era policy in place since March 2020, is lifted Thursday. The effect is already noticeable. On Tuesday, border officials apprehended more than 11,000 migrants who had crossed illegally, according to internal data, an increase from 7,000 to 8,000 crossings a day last week.

Title 42 had effectively kept the border closed to asylum seekers and largely allowed authorities to skip parts of the prolonged administrative processing of migrants and automatically return those who entered Mexico illegally. Once the rule expires, officials will revert to decades-old border laws that prolonged the process.

But the end of the policy exposes deep divisions that have for years hampered congressional efforts to rework the country’s outdated immigration laws. Those laws are now in the spotlight as Republican leaders try to push through the House a tough border enforcement bill that has pitted GOP members against each other.

Mayorkas said the administration was sending more asylum officers to process applications as well as thousands of personnel from the Departments of Homeland Security and Defense. President Biden said Wednesday he plans to send additional troops to the border, adding to the 1,500 announced last week.

Mr. Mayorkas repeated the warning he issued on Wednesday two years ago. But the migrants are likely to continue trying to cross into the United States, given authorities released them from Border Patrol custody to temporarily stay in the country until they face a court hearing. ‘immigration.

It’s unclear how many more illegal crossings there will be once Title 42 is lifted. On Wednesday in El Paso, Border Patrol Chief Raul L. Ortiz said he didn’t expect the number to hit 17,000 or 18,000 a day.

The increases we’ve seen over the past five to six days, I think, were really the push, Mr. Ortiz told a group of reporters. I think what we are seeing now is a continuing effort by some to send the incorrect message that once title 42 is gone it will be free play along the border.

Mayorkas said his department is also launching a digital advertising campaign in Central and South America to counter false claims by smugglers that the end of Title 42 means the border will be open.

Don’t believe their lies, Mayorkas said in a message to migrants. He also warned that with the end of Title 42, migrants could face criminal charges if they are ultimately deported and try to cross again.

President Biden has struggled to agree on an approach to immigration that satisfies his critics on the right or the left. Mayorkas said on Wednesday that the administration is set to impose a restriction on asylum seekers when Title 42 expires, which would quickly reject claims from most people who cross the border but don’t seek not first refuge in Mexico, with a few exceptions.

We are finalizing a new rule to encourage individuals to use available, legal, safe and orderly pathways to enter the United States, Mayorkas said. The rule assumes that those who do not use legal channels to enter the United States are not eligible for asylum.

The policy has been criticized by advocacy groups who liken the rule to the much-criticized Stay in Mexico policy of the Trump administrations which forced asylum seekers to wait, often in dangerous conditions, in Mexico while their cases were processed. in the USA. This rule eventually ended after being blocked by the courts.

After a phone call with President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador of Mexico on Tuesday, President Biden conceded that the situation at the border would be chaotic for some time. On Wednesday, Mayorkas blamed Congress for its failure to pass effective legislation.

We apply tougher penalties for illegal entry, Mayorkas said. We are taking this approach within the confines of a broken immigration system that Congress has not fixed in over two decades, and without the resources we need in personnel, facilities, transportation and the like that we we have requested from Congress and which have not been given to us.

Republicans have accused Mr Biden of adopting an open border policy and threatened to impeach Mr Mayorkas. They also promised to pass legislation that would prevent illegal migrants from entering the United States. But their efforts sparked a series of protests within the GOP and, on Wednesday, prompted a last-minute scramble to keep the bill from falling apart.

Along parts of the southern border, migrants crowded into makeshift camps looking for ways to cross American soil.

At a squalid camp on the Rio Grande near Brownsville, Texas, a group of migrants punched holes in a fence and a handful of them managed to get through before uniformed officers on the American side turned them back.

Marvel Benitez, a 31-year-old immigrant from Honduras, was among those hoping to cross. But when he heard the officers shouting to the crowd in Spanish no entre, he knew he didn’t stand a chance. Moments later, he broke the bad news to his wife. They won’t let us in, he said. We can’t cross today.

Elizabeth Guerra, 33, shrugged in disbelief as border agents closed the gap in the breached fence. She said she left Brazil to escape poverty and persecution months ago and now finds herself with more questions than answers. She had been under the impression that the end of Title 42 would mean easy entry into the United States, she said.

It’s very confusing, she said. One day they let in a pregnant woman, elderly people and the next day they didn’t. I have already applied in Guatemala and Mexico. And I never heard back.

Now I’m here and I can’t go back. It’s too late. We are all desperate, she said.

Edgar Sandoval contributed reporting from Matamoros, Mexico, Eileen Sullivan from El Paso and Karoun Demirjian from Washington.

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