US Chief of Diplomacy Antony Blinken prepares the ground for the Summit of the Americas by attending a regional meeting on migration in Panama on Tuesday (04/19/2022), a few weeks before the United States lifts border restrictions with Mexico .
Since U.S. President Joe Biden entered the White House in January 2021, the number of migrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has increased and is expected to rise even more if the administration in May lifts rules restricting the Immediate expulsion of migrants allowed .
In February alone, US immigration authorities intercepted 164,973 people illegally crossing this land border, 55% of whom could be expelled under this rule known as Title 42, which was activated due to the pandemic.
Biden defends a “more humane” immigration policy than his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, who pursued a “hard zero-tolerance” policy on irregular immigration.
The lack of border controls is a vulnerable political flank that could become explosive for Democrats as the year-end midterm elections near.
The Democratic president is proposing a path to citizenship rejected by Congress and a strategy to tackle what he calls the root causes of migration to stem the massive flow of migrants from Central America, a mission he has entrusted to Vice President Kamala Harris.
gs (afp, Reuters, efe)