World News | Biden leans towards global diplomacy to manage immigration at US-Mexico border

WASHINGTON, May 23 (AP) – On his first day in office, President Joe Biden sent Congress a legislative plan to modernize the nation’s immigration system.

It’s going nowhere, like so many overhaul attempts in the past.

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At the same time, the number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally has climbed to a record high, and so has the backlog in the U.S. immigration court system.

Article 42 emergency health powers that allow border officials to turn away many migrants are sure to end as the coronavirus pandemic eases.

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Congress can’t even agree on simple questions like whether the U.S. should let more people in or fewer.

So administration officials have begun looking for solutions outside the United States, trying to paint immigration not as one of America’s thorniest problems, but as one that needs to be addressed across the Western Hemisphere.

It’s a shift in focus that demonstrates Biden’s confidence in the power of global diplomacy, and one that could also be more promising, especially as smuggling networks increasingly guide immigrant families from around the world through dangerous and often deadly journeys Darien gap between Colombia and Panama.

“No country should shoulder this responsibility alone.”

Biden said last year when he convened the leaders of the 23 countries participating in the Summit of the Americas to develop a common plan on immigration and security.

“The future of the economy is interdependent. The future of each of us is interdependent. Our security is linked in ways that I don’t think most of our country fully understand.”

If Biden’s solution is international, the politics remain domestic.

He’s running for re-election, and the border is a top issue for Republicans, who paint him as soft on security.

He was relatively lightly involved in immigration policy before becoming president. Before this year’s visit, he had only been to the 1,951-mile U.S.-Mexico border for a few hours during a campaign in 2008, and he has not played a significant role in past reform efforts while in the Senate.

Still, his foreign policy experience stretches back decades, from his years in Congress to his two terms as vice president, and is of international significance.

“No other president in the Oval Office has the mileage, understanding and engagement that Joe Biden has in the region. It’s just a fact,” said Arturo Sarukhan, Mexico’s ambassador to the United States from 2007 to 2013.

“That’s an important addition that Biden brings.”

Saruhan said Biden’s approach has focused on engagement and negotiations, sending top leaders to the region for discussions and inviting Washington to visit.

“Biden isn’t putting a gun to anyone’s forehead,” he said.

But immigrant advocates worry that the new approach will incur costs that may be paid by immigrants fleeing persecution and poverty in their home countries.

“I do think they’re trying to manage immigration, not end it,” said Yael Schacher, Americas and Europe director for Refugees International.

“But managing immigration also comes with human rights, horrific human rights and consequences. It’s a moral distance – if the problem is no longer on your doorstep, you risk wiping your hands off.”

The composition of immigration has changed dramatically over the past two decades, bringing new challenges.

Those who crossed the border used to be mostly Mexicans coming to work and could easily be deported.

Now, more and more families are arriving from Guatemala, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti to escape drought brought on by climate change and oppressive regimes.

It reflects a larger trend. The UNHCR estimates that 103 million people are displaced globally, accounting for more than 1% of the world’s population.

“We are at a unique moment where we have to understand that this is not a domestic issue, but a regional and global issue,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, director of the Lutheran Immigrant and Refugee Services Center, which helps immigrants and refugees in america

Illegal U.S.-Mexico border crossings have been falling since the Biden administration imposed new rules on May 11, but it’s unclear whether the administration’s approach will work long-term, or whether it can survive legal challenges and what could happen in 2024. administrative changes.

Under the new rules, immigrants cannot apply for asylum if they passed through another country on their way to the U.S. without seeking protection in that country, or if they fail to make an appointment to come to the U.S. through a new government application.

If found to have crossed the border illegally, they will be barred from returning for five years or face criminal charges.

But up to 30,000 Venezuelans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Cubans a month will be allowed to enter the United States to work legally if they have a sponsor.

As many as 100,000 immigrants from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Colombia will be allowed entry if their family members are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.

Leaders from Mexico and several other countries boycotted the June summit in Los Angeles over their decision to exclude the authoritarian leader.

Still, it ended with a signed agreement and a set of principles that included legal pathways into the country, assistance for communities most affected by migration, more humane border management and a coordinated emergency response.

Administration officials then worked on new immigration rules that would take effect after Title 42 ends, with new directives aimed at expanding legal access while cracking down on illegal crossings, interspersed with actions in Guatemala, Ecuador and Colombia.

They negotiate with Mexico.Canada and Spain accept migrants who would otherwise go to US

Guatemala and Colombia will open regional centers where people can file claims, and as many as 100 regional centers will open.

But Colombia and Guatemala fear the hubs could draw millions to their shores, so other countries are reluctant to sign up to host the hubs.

At the same time, many migrants remain stranded. Last week, advocates said there were major problems with the new immigration application, which prevented people from getting permission to cross the border — some desperate to enter the U.S., who were sexually assaulted and beaten by kidnappers at the border.

“Learn what it is about people who are afraid to return to their home country for asylum, and they want to do it the right way so badly that they wait for an application that doesn’t work,” said immigration attorney Priscilla Orta. Corazon plan.

“That’s the lottery ticket in their lives.” (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)