Biden comes under pressure over expected easing of U.S. asylum rules
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[December 19, 2022]
By Jason Lange
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats,
on Sunday pressed Democratic President Joe Biden to take action to
manage an expected wave of asylum seekers at America's southern border
when COVID-era restrictions are set to end this week.
U.S. border cities are bracing for an influx of asylum seekers after a
U.S. judge in November moved to strike down a policy enacted by the
Trump administration in 2020 that has allowed migration authorities to
rapidly send asylum seekers back to Mexico and other countries.
The policy, known as Title 42, is due to end on Dec. 21, and thousands
of asylum seekers have been lining up at the U.S.-Mexico border ahead of
the easing of restrictions.
On Saturday, the west Texas border city of El Paso declared a state of
emergency, citing hundreds of migrants sleeping on the streets in cold
temperatures and the thousands being apprehended every day.
"It's a very dire situation," U.S. Representative Tony Gonzales of
Texas, a Republican, told CBS's "Face the Nation".
Gonzales called on Biden to revive past policies that tried to speed up
asylum review and expedite deportations.
U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar, a Democrat who also represents Texas,
urged Biden to enact a policy requiring people to only request asylum at
official border crossing points.
"And if they don't follow that pathway they need to go back," Cuellar
told "Face the Nation".
Republicans made calls for tighter immigration policies a key message in
their 2022 midterm election campaigns.
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A Texas National Guardsman watches as a
group of migrants wades across the Rio Grande as U.S. border cities
brace for an influx of asylum seekers when COVID-era Title 42
migration restrictions are set to end, in Eagle Pass, Texas, U.S.
December 18, 2022. REUTERS/Jordan Vonderhaar
After winning a narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives
in November, some Republican lawmakers are calling for the
impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for
what they see as a failure of border policy under Biden.
One of the loudest Republican voices for tighter border policy,
Governor Greg Abbott of Texas, on Sunday told ABC news the end of
Title 42 would bring "total chaos."
While Gonzales, the Republican lawmaker, said America was poised to
receive a "hurricane of migrants," the Biden administration has
pushed back at arguments that ending Title 42 amounted to an opening
of U.S. borders to illegal immigrants.
"These aren't people who are attempting to illegally cross the
border," Keisha Lance Bottoms, a White House aide, said on "Face the
Nation". "These are people who are presenting themselves, asking
that they be processed in accordance with the laws of the United
States."
Still, pressure appeared to be growing on the Biden administration,
even within his own party. U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, a conservative
Democrat, also appearing on "Face the Nation," urged Biden to ask
for an extension of Title 42.
"The president needs to find a way," Manchin said.
(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Mary Milliken and Bill
Berkrot)
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