WASHINGTON – President Biden spoke Thursday with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador – but broke little new ground as the number of daily illegal crossings broke all-time records with thousands of migrants camped out in border states awaiting processing.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby confirmed to reporters that Biden and Lopez Obrador discussed long-standing efforts to address the “root causes” of migration as well as tentative ideas to restrict the flow of people through Mexico.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at the same briefing that “the president has done everything he can – hasn’t he? – himself… [and] we also need funding” from Congress — drew a sharp rebuke from the House GOP.
“The White House’s insistence that ‘the president has done everything he can on his own’ to secure the border is an affront to the American people,” said Raj Shah, a spokesman for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who implored Biden in a letter Thursday to use the authority its president to stop the escalating humanitarian crisis days from Christmas.
“In fact, it’s the policies of this administration — which President Biden could reverse — that have led to the historic crisis we see every day,” Shah said.
In describing Biden’s discussions with his Mexican counterpart, Kirby pointed out that the leaders discussed addressing fundamental issues in other countries as an increasingly diverse group of immigrants, including from outside America, cross the border and seek asylum.
“One of the things that President Lopez Obrador and [Biden] that’s being talked about today is trying to find the root cause of migration,” Kirby said – while also acknowledging the ongoing “huge spike” and “significant spike” in illegal crossings.
The Biden administration’s three-year initiative to reduce illegal immigration by addressing “root causes” such as poverty, crime and corruption – led by Vice President Kamala Harris – has not reduced illegal crossings, whose levels have risen sharply.
Thousands of migrants wait to be processed by the US Border Patrol at temporary transit centers. Go Nakamura for NY Post Number of daily illegal border crossings breaks all-time record. AFP via Getty Images
“There are many factors and some of them, of course, deal with political and domestic instability and instability in the region,” said Kirby, who touted the Venezuelan prisoner swap deal reached this week with socialist strongman Nicolas Maduro to which he agreed. to release 21 opposition politicians.
“The work we’re doing with Venezuela here, not just to get Americans back, but to get the Maduro regime to consider certain electoral reforms, that’s important — that’s important to help get some of the causes of migration,” he said.
Asked by reporters if Biden and Lopez Obrador discussed how to slow the current trend, Kirby said: “They talked extensively about what could be done in Mexico to slow the process. And there are some things like checkpoints on railroads and on highways and things like that and the presence of the Mexican Armed Forces in the south could also be important for that as well.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will travel to Mexico in the near future to “firm up the modality a little bit.”
President Biden spoke with the president of Mexico on Thursday about the crisis. AP There is a backlog of processing along the US-Mexico border due to the high number of illegal crossings. AFP via Getty Images
Kirby at one point acknowledged “more” must be done at the border – pointing to pending requests for additional funding for border operations and the policing of immigrants allowed into the US.
“Part of the additional request is a recognition that more needs to be done in border security. And we are ready to continue to have that conversation with members of Congress,” he said.
The Biden administration has been forced to shut down two major rail lines with Mexico amid a rush to the border.
Lopez Obrador, whose office did not immediately release a transcript of the call, said Thursday morning that Biden had asked the two men to speak.
The Mexican leader said “I think migration” will be a topic of conversation.
“Let’s see what he gives us,” added Lopez Obrador, widely known by his initials, AMLO.
More than 12,600 people were reportedly processed by US Customs and Border Protection officials on Monday, the most ever recorded in a single day.
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott responded to the surge by signing a law on Monday that allows state police to arrest people entering illegally from Mexico — even though the US Supreme Court previously ruled that immigration policy cannot be set by individual states.
Lopez Obrador has denounced the Texas state law as inhumane.
Johnson, the top Republican in Washington, sent a letter to Biden on Thursday warning that “Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is at an unsatisfactory point.”
“All of this is a direct result of your administration’s policies,” Johnson wrote. “You have clearly undermined American sovereignty and security by ending the Remain in Mexico policy, reinstating arrests and releases, suspending cooperative asylum agreements with other countries, ignoring existing restrictions on parole abuse, and stopping construction of the border wall.”
“You also undermine the core mission of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), even using a smartphone application to facilitate the release of border crossings into the United States,” he said.
The Speaker of the House asked the president to rescind this policy with swift executive action to expedite removals and reform parole and asylum policies and he invoked Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Immigrants from countries outside Latin America — including China, India, Russia and African countries — arrive at the border. Getty Images
Federal law would allow Biden to “suspend the admission of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants or to impose upon the admission of aliens such restrictions as he deems appropriate” if he “finds that the admission of any aliens or any class of aliens into the United States would be prejudicial to the interests of the United States.”
Johnson added, “Wide open borders have caused untold human tragedy for immigrants and certainly for our own people.
“Countless children and adults have fallen victim to human trafficking and the cartels have been strengthened and enriched,” he wrote. “Local communities have been destroyed and dangerous terrorists and criminals have illegally entered and dispersed throughout our country. We are now more vulnerable to terrorist attacks on our homeland than ever before.”
Winter usually draws fewer migrants due to freezing temperatures along the southwest border, but this month’s surge in crossings comes after years of steady increases, which Republicans attribute to Biden’s more welcoming policies for asylum seekers.
Many people who cross the border illegally are allowed into the US to await a decision on their alleged persecution, straining the resources of local governments in New York City and other popular destinations.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador recently called Texas’ new immigration law “inhumane.” SASHENKA GUTIERREZ/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
After an initial waiting period, immigrants seeking asylum are entitled to a work permit.
The check-in system and backlog of court dates mean cases can drag on into the future.
Nearly 2.5 million people were detained after illegally crossing the US-Mexico border in fiscal 2023, which ended on September 30, in addition to an estimated 670,000 “tourists” who eluded authorities.
The record-breaking total followed a record-breaking 2.4 million in the previous year, which itself followed a record-breaking 1.7 million in fiscal 2021.
On his first day in office in January 2021, Biden halted funding for former President Donald Trump’s US-Mexico border wall.
Biden in June 2021 ended Trump’s “Stay in Mexico” policy that required most asylum seekers arriving at the southern border to await a US court decision in Mexico.
The Department of Homeland Security in October said it was necessary to resume construction of the wall in Texas, citing the “acute and urgent need to build physical barriers … to prevent illegal entry,” but Biden distanced himself from the move and said he have to spend money appropriated by Congress.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
