Analysis-Biden's new border plan undercuts campaign vow to restore
asylum access
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[January 07, 2023]
By Ted Hesson and Kristina Cooke
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden's move this week to block
migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border aims to reduce record crossings and
shield him from Republican criticism but is a turn away from his
campaign promise to restore access to asylum.
Initial backlash to Biden's policy shift also signals it could be
challenged in court, from both those who favor restricting immigration
and advocates for asylum seekers.
The Democratic president on Thursday announced a new two-pronged
strategy that pairs deterrence measures blocking Cuban, Haitian and
Nicaraguan migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border while opening new legal,
limited pathways into the United States for them.
"We can’t stop people from making the journey, but we can require them
to come here ... in an orderly way under U.S. law," Biden said during a
speech at the White House.
Some fellow Democrats, former Biden officials and immigration advocates
lambasted his decision to expand COVID border restrictions implemented
under Republican former President Donald Trump even after the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in April 2021 that they
were no longer needed for public health reasons.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jan/07/images/ads/current/moriearty_sda_LUAL_2022.png)
The restrictions, known as Title 42, allow U.S. authorities to rapidly
expel migrants caught at the border back to Mexico without the chance to
claim asylum in the United States. Mexico had only been accepting
returns of its own citizens and some Central Americans until agreeing
recently to accept Venezuelans in October and now the additional
nationalities.
The Biden administration tried last year to end the Title 42 border
restrictions, but U.S. courts have left them in place and legal
challenges are ongoing.
While the administration must keep the Title 42 order, it does not need
to broaden its use, say some frustrated advocates.
"It doesn't make sense to say you're opposed to it but also expand it,"
said Alida Garcia, a former Biden senior adviser on migration and vice
president of advocacy at the pro-immigration group FWD.us.
NO ACTION FROM CONGRESS
To be sure, some Democrats and analysts view the plan as a pragmatic way
to address record numbers of migrants arriving at the border in the
absence of any legislative solution from Congress.
The court rulings that left the Title 42 order in place give the Biden
administration time to experiment with different strategies. Under
Biden's new program, up to 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua
and Venezuela will be allowed to apply for temporary legal entry to the
United States via air if they have U.S. sponsors.
Angela Kelley, a former senior counselor for immigration and border at
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under Biden, said the coming
months could be "a testing period to see whether the legal pathways can
ease the pressures at the border."
White House officials defended Biden's immigration record at a press
briefing on Friday, saying he had opened new legal pathways for migrants
from Central America and expanded a humanitarian program that offers
work permits and deportation relief to certain immigrants lacking
permanent status in the United States.
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![](../images/010723PIX/news_j13.jpg)
Children play as migrants queue near the
border fence, after crossing the Rio Bravo river, to request asylum
in El Paso, Texas, U.S., as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico January
5, 2023. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jan/07/images/ads/current/graue_lda_SILVERADO_122022.png)
"This is a president who understands that safe and legal immigration
into this country is a key cornerstone of our own security and
prosperity," said John Kirby, spokesperson for the White House
National Security Council.
While Biden won accolades from some Democrats like Senator Joe
Manchin for the new border restrictions, Republicans showed no signs
of easing their attacks on his border record, even as their party
struggled to select a speaker in the U.S. House of Representatives.
U.S. Representative Nanette Barragan, the Democratic chair of the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus, praised the new legal pathways for
migrants in a statement on Friday, but said the lawmakers were
disappointed with the expansion of the Title 42 order, which "has
denied asylum seekers their rights to due process for far too long."
Eleanor Acer, refugee protection director at Human Rights First,
said opening up more ways for migrants to legally enter the United
States is a positive step, but the restrictions on asylum are "right
out of the Trump playbook."
"The Biden administration is saying that they will be making
tweaks," Acer said, "but it is still at the end of the day an entry
and transit ban."
MOST VULNERABLE LEFT OUT?
The humanitarian entry program for Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans
builds on a Biden program launched in October that blocked
Venezuelans at the border but allowed up to 24,000 to apply to enter
the United States by air.
About 11,500 Venezuelans entered under the program launched in
October, according to the Mexican government, while the number of
Venezuelans caught at the U.S.-Mexico border plummeted.
Savitri Arvey, senior policy adviser at advocacy group Women's
Refugee Commission, said the Venezuela program favored more affluent
migrants with U.S. connections and passports, and "didn't address
the needs of the most vulnerable people."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jan/07/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png)
Legal challenges could arise from both conservatives trying to halt
the humanitarian entry program and immigration advocates opposed to
any proposed changes that limit asylum access and speed up
deportations.
Biden's plan could also fail to deter border crossings. While the
number of Venezuelans arriving at the border plunged after they were
blocked in October, whether that could happen again with other
nationalities remains unclear.
Migrants could also turn to riskier routes to avoid detection. In
the case of Cubans and Haitians, that could mean dangerous journeys
by boat.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington and Kristina Cooke in San
Francisco; Additional reporting by Mica Rosenberg and Daina Beth
Solomon in Mexico City; Editing by Mary Milliken, Aurora Ellis and
Leslie Adler)
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