On Friday, a federal appeals court ruled against conservative states that had argued to keep in place asylum rules enacted during the Trump administration. Thousands of migrants have crowded into shelters on the Mexican border as the restrictions near their expiration next week. Unless more challenges are filed, the order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit means the restrictions will continue to expire on Wednesday as planned. It may come down to the wire before a decision is made.
Republican-controlled states fought to preserve the asylum limitations enacted by President Trump at the outbreak’s onset because to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. Since March 2020, when the spread of COVID-19 was deemed a priority, 2.5 million asylum-seekers have been turned away despite their legal rights under U.S. and international law. Many asylum seekers are forced to wait in Mexico because of Title 42, a public health regulation.
Immigrant rights lawyers filed to nullify Title 42 on the grounds that the United States was betraying its tradition of welcoming those seeking sanctuary from oppression around the world. Others have pointed out that vaccines and other treatments render this line of reasoning irrelevant and have accused Trump of using the bans as a smokescreen to limit immigration.
An impartial judge ruled in their favor last month, giving the federal government until December 21 to put a halt to the policy in question.
An earlier Justice Department court filing, made public on Friday, reported a decrease in unlawful border crossings of unaccompanied adults in November, though it offered no explanation for the drop. Furthermore, it didn’t take into consideration families taking small children on the road or kids who were on the road by themselves.
The Biden administration predicts that the daily influx of migrants into border cities like El Paso, Texas, will increase if limitations on seeking asylum are relaxed.
The head of migrant affairs for Mexico’s largest city, Enrique Lucero, stated last week that over 5,000 individuals are being housed in Tijuana’s more than 30 shelters.
Nearly 300 migrants, mostly families, slept in the Casa del Migrante in Reynosa, Mexico, close to McAllen, Texas, on bunk beds and even on the floor.
Three weeks have passed since Rose, a 32-year-old Haitian woman, brought her 1-year-old son and daughter to the shelter. Rose, who did not give her last name for fear of retaliation, said she learned of potential changes to U.S. laws on her voyage and that this knowledge affected her decision to seek asylum. She claimed she didn’t mind staying in Mexico until limitations, instituted at the start of the pandemic and now central to U.S. border security, were lifted.
“We’re extremely concerned,” Rose said, “because the Haitians are deported.” Rose is afraid that if she makes a mistake in her efforts to bring her family to the United States, she will be deported back to Haiti.
Around three thousand migrants are currently residing in tents on concrete slabs and hard gravel inside Senda de Vida 2, an evangelical Christian pastor’s second Reynosa shelter after the first one filled up. Even in the middle of December, the sun is intensely warm, and flies are abundant.
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Such shelters provide at least some protection from the gangs that control transit via the Rio Grande and prey on travelers for those fleeing violence in Haiti, Venezuela, and other countries.
Around one hundred migrants who had previously dodged asylum limitations slept on floor mats Thursday in a big hall operated by Catholic Charities in McAllen, Texas, while they awaited transportation to meet loved ones across the country.
Eight months pregnant, 22-year-old Gloria from Honduras was carrying a paper with the words “Please assist me” written on it. I can’t communicate in English. Gloria, too, was afraid for her safety and did not want her full name or last name used. She was anxious about flying alone to Florida to visit a family friend.
Andrea Rudnik, co-founder of an all-volunteer migrant welcome association in Brownsville, Texas, worried about having adequate winter clothes for migrants coming from warmer climes. Brownsville is across the border from Matamoros, Mexico.
On Friday, she lamented, “We don’t have enough materials,” adding that decreased donations have hurt Team Brownsville’s ability to purchase necessities.
Part of a public health statute passed in 1944, Title 42 extends to all nationalities but has been applied disproportionately to individuals whom Mexico agrees to accept back, including Mexicans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, Salvadorans, and, more recently, Venezuelans.
On Friday, the Department of Justice reported in court that in November, Border Patrol agents stopped 143,903 unaccompanied adults along the Mexican border. This was down from 158,639 stops in October and was the lowest monthly total since August. After Mexicans, Nicaraguans have surpassed Cubans as the greatest nationality of single adults crossing the border.
The number of unaccompanied Venezuelan adults intercepted by Border Patrol agents in November fell to 3,513 from 14,697 the previous month, a direct result of Mexico’s decision on October 12 to accept Venezuelan migrants who are ejected from the United States.
Of all nationalities, Mexican single adults were stopped the most (43.504 times, down from 56.088 in October). With 27,369 adult stops, Nicaragua saw a significant increase from the previous high of 16,497. The number of times adult Cubans were detained increased by 6,000 to 24,690.
Similarly, a federal judge in Amarillo, Texas, ruled on Thursday that the Biden administration improperly reversed a Trump-era policy that required asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico pending their immigration court appearances. The verdict did not have any immediate effects, but it may prove to be a serious defeat for the White House in the future.
