The southern US border was crowded with migrants on Friday, but there was no disruption as Title 42 pandemic-era restrictions were lifted. But Biden administration officials have lashed out at court challenges from both the right and the left, saying they could undermine efforts to tackle record levels of border crossings in the coming days and weeks. condemned.
Immigrants continued to seek refuge in the United States across the 3,000-mile border with Mexico, but U.S. Border Patrol officers and shelter operators said the number of pilgrims so far has increased. He said the flow of desperate people was lighter than he feared. In the last few weeks I have moved north from my home.
While officials expressed relief at Friday’s lower-than-expected surge, officials warned of dangerous overcrowding at already congested border posts, hampering their ability to cope with the recent surge in arrivals. He was outraged by court rulings that predicted the condition would arise.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mallorcas criticized his remarks late Thursday. Judgment by a Federal Judge in Florida This would prevent the department from releasing immigrants without notice to appear in immigration court, which was routinely done by previous administrations to speed up the process and reduce overcrowding. That’s what he said. The ruling was made at the request of the Republican Attorney General of Florida, who argued that the administration cannot simply release immigrants into the country without an order for a court hearing. .
White House Press Secretary Carine Jean-Pierre called the ruling “pure and simple sabotage.”
Officials also challenged the administration’s new rules restricting those eligible for asylum and criticized human rights groups that filed a lawsuit after midnight. Immigrant rights activists on Friday called the new rule the “Biden-Harris asylum ban” and said it was outright illegal. But government officials said the court challenge would only exacerbate the situation at the border.
Blas Nunez Neto, undersecretary for border and immigration policy at the Department of Homeland Security, said, “The lawsuits we face frankly on both sides really show just how fundamentally broken our immigration system is. showing,” he said.
In Washington, a bipartisan group of lawmakers sought to come up with a compromise, introducing a bill on Friday that would extend the government’s power to immediately deport immigrants who try to enter the country illegally for two years, as it did during the pandemic.
But the bill, led by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, and Jared Golden, a Maine Democrat, has little chance of becoming law. It has already been criticized by some Democrats for being too strict, and by some Republicans for being too lax on immigration in what appears to be frivolous asylum claims.
Along the border on Friday, there were few scenes of large or disorderly crowds at the usual intersections.
However, in comments to reporters on Friday morning, several senior government officials said record levels of border crossings will continue in what they describe as a “difficult transition” that could last well into the summer. said to be expected.
About 10,000 people crossed the border on Thursday, a historically high figure that strained the government’s network of border patrol facilities and shelters run by cities, non-profits and churches.
Border Patrol agents had more than 24,000 migrants in custody as of early Friday morning, according to internal data obtained by The New York Times. This was typical of last November, when the number of migrants in Border Patrol custody was 12,000, well above the Border Patrol’s maximum capacity of 18,000 to 20,000. Days out.
In McAllen, Texas, the surge many expected did not materialize at the McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge. There, Customs and Border Protection agents handled a small queue of people entering the United States from Reynosa, Mexico, many of whom traveled regularly.
The first group to surrender to the authorities and seek asylum, made up of men, women and infants, arrived at the port of entry minutes after their Title 42s expired. A few steps away from the International Bridge, a line of Texas State Police trucks continued to idle.
In El Paso, dozens of immigrants had gathered around the Sacred Heart Church, which earlier this week was a crowded retreat with about 2,000 migrants. On Friday, some were kicking soccer balls back and forth, while others sat with their backs to walls, surrounded by Red Cross blankets and plastic bags of food.
Shelter operators said the shelter population fell on Friday but it was too early to tell what would happen in the next few days as most of those who crossed were still being processed. . But some predicted that the worst may have passed.
“Yesterday the number of people pulled from the banks of the river beyond the Wall was substantial, but not as many as anyone expected,” said Ruben Garcia, director of the House of the Annunciation organization. said Mr. Collaborates with U.S. Border Patrol on immigration care in the El Paso area shelter network.
“We’ll have to see what happens in the next few days,” he said. “There are many variables.”
Officials said although relatively calm, conditions on both sides of the border remained difficult with tens of thousands of migrants already in or heading to the United States. The economic and political crises in countries surrounding the region are driving people out of the country in large-scale migration, with experts saying 20 million people have been displaced in the hemisphere. The impact of immigration is already straining refugee services in the region, especially in the United States.
Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard described the situation optimistically on Friday morning, saying the border was “calm and normal with no major arrivals or conflicts”.
But forecasters expect heavy rains along the border over the weekend, with up to 10 inches of isolated rain and potential flooding along the Rio Grande River, where many migrants are trying to cross. bottom. Forecasters said some of these storms could also bring hail and damaging winds, with a possible tornado on Saturday.
In particular, it said flooding could hit along the Rio Grande River from Eagle Pass to Laredo, Texas, and reach levels not seen in years on that part of the river.
While Friday’s focus was on immediate immigration flows at the border, immigration advocates and officials in Washington engaged in heated debate about what immigration policy should be pursued in the long term.
On Friday afternoon, a range of human rights groups called on the Biden administration to stop enforcing new asylum rules that say most migrants entering the United States through Mexico must pass through an official port of entry before they are eligible for asylum. .
Kika Matos, director of the National Center for Immigration Law, compared the policy to that of former President Donald J. Trump and said the new policy violates international human rights instruments.
“The administration has made a deliberate choice to further strengthen Trump’s policies, which run counter to the core of American values, and to severely limit access to our asylum system,” she said. “Lives are at risk. Government needs to do better.”
But Biden administration officials vehemently defended their approach, saying tougher measures were needed in the face of massive immigration flows across the hemisphere.
Mayorcas said the administration has been preparing for years to remove Title 42 regulations, and new policies include expanding legal channels for immigration and new harsher consequences for those who attempt to enter the country illegally. He expressed confidence that he would eventually succeed. Reduce the number of people trying to enter without permission.
“We keep telling immigrants that this is not the way to seek help in the United States,” he told ABC News. “Very dangerous. They are in the hands of ruthless smugglers. We have established a legal, safe and orderly route for them to come to the United States. If you do, you will face severe consequences.”
Still, Mayorkas said it will take time for these efforts to have an impact.
“It will be difficult, but we have a plan,” he said. “We have implemented our plan. It will take time, but I am confident that our plan will work.”
Report contributors: Nicholas Vogel Burroughs in Edisto Beach, South Carolina, Edgar Sandoval in McAllen, Texas, emiliano rodriguez mega In Ciudad Juarez Miriam Jordan in El Paso, and Karon Demirjan in Washington.
