The President of the United States, Joe Biden, continues his unraveling of the measures taken by his predecessor. Donald Trump’s controversial migration policy of returning asylum seekers to Mexico during the examination of their case will be stopped as of next week, the US administration announced on Friday February 12.
“From February 19, the Ministry of Internal Security will begin phase one of its program to restore a secure and orderly process at the southwest border” from the United States, a statement said. The people who were targeted by the measure called “Remain in Mexico” by Mr. Trump will be able to be admitted to the United States, added the Biden administration.
Seventy thousand asylum seekers returned since 2019
This policy, implemented in 2019, did not apply to Mexicans, but forced asylum seekers who arrived in the United States through Mexico to stay there until their application was investigated. She had been severely criticized by civil rights organizations.
At least 70,000 asylum seekers, most from Central America, have been returned to Mexico under this program, creating a humanitarian crisis on this side of the border, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the American Immigration Council. The asylum applications of 25,000 people, targeted by this policy, are still under review, according to an official in the Democratic administration.
The new Minister of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, the first Hispanic to hold the post, hailed “A new step in [l’engagement de l’administration Biden] to rework migration policies that do not correspond to the values of [la] nation [américaine] ».
From his first day in the White House, Joe Biden had already given pledges to the left wing of the Democratic Party, which is waiting for a 180-degree turn on immigration, after four years devoted to locking the borders of the United States .
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