Haiti – FLASH : Joe Biden announces new migration restrictions on the southern border with Mexico
05/06/2024 08:47:54
On Tuesday June 4th, 2024, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, signed a new executive order aimed at limiting the number of people who can seek asylum at the southern border with Mexico, measures that echo those used by the former President Donald Trump.
When they take effect, these new measures will allow authorities to expel people who cross the border irregularly back to their country of origin or back to Mexico, unless they prove, according to stricter standards, that they may be persecuted or tortured in the event of expulsion. Let’s recall that the United States currently has an agreement with Mexico to return approximately 30,000 migrants per month, but only those coming from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Concretely, restrictions will be activated when an average of 2,500 irregular border crossings per day is exceeded during a period of 7 days. Currently, irregular daily crossings already exceed this threshold…
The only way to lift the restrictions is to reduce the number of arrests to an average of 1,500 illegal entries per day for 14 days. “Once in force, this ban could remain in force for a long time, given the high number of people arriving at the southern border,” said Kennji Kizuka, asylum expert at the International Rescue Committee.
In order to seek asylum in the United States while the restriction is in effect, a person must prove that there is a “reasonable probability” that they would be persecuted or tortured if returned to their home country. The new standard requires people to present more evidence to immigration authorities at the border, which is the first filter for starting an asylum application in the United States. However, this decree provides for exceptions; it does not apply to unaccompanied minors, nor to people who can demonstrate a serious medical emergency, an imminent risk to their life or safety, or who are victims of human trafficking.
Legally, this executive order is based on Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which gives the President the authority to prohibit entry by executive order of certain migrants, if deemed that their entry would be “detrimental” to the national interest. Trump has invoked this article several times during his term, including to ban entry to people from majority-Muslim countries. The Republican Government has been the subject of multiple legal proceedings from organizations for the use of this article. For its part, the White House has indicated that it is ready in the event of a challenge in court.
The actual effect of these new measures remains limited because the United States does not have the capacity to quickly review applications or to expel or detain all persons in an irregular situation… Thus, it may take several years before an illegal migrant is presented to a judge and knows what his future will be.
SL/ HaitiLibre
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