White House Unveils Program to Tighten Border Against 4 Countries

The Biden administration Thursday announced a program that will allow Border Patrol agents to immediately turn away Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans crossing the border illegally, expanding on an existing effort to stop Venezuelans from unlawfully entering the United States.

The administration said it will accept 30,000 per month from the four countries over the next two years, while offering them work permissions if they enter the country legally, pass background checks, and have eligible sponsors, according to a White House report.

"Do not, do not just show up at the border," President Joe Biden said Thursday. "Stay where you are and apply legally from there."

It was Biden’s boldest move yet to confront spiraling arrivals at the U.S. border with Mexico, a major change to immigration rules that will stand even if the U.S. Supreme Court ends a Trump-era public health law that allows American authorities to turn away asylum seekers.

Immigrants from the four countries involved are among those with the highest number of migrant border crossings in recent months.

"The administration is also announcing that it is surging additional resources to the border and the region, scaling up its anti-smuggling operations, and expanding coordination and support for border cities and nongovernmental organizations," the White House release said. "Importantly, the actions announced today are being implemented in close partnership with Mexico and governments across the Western Hemisphere."

The new rules will stand even if the Supreme Court decides to end Title 42. The court has agreed to put a hold on lifting the health-based policy pending a challenge by attorneys general in several Republican-controlled states.

The White House said, the rules will "facilitate a return to the processing of all noncitizens under Title 8 authorities when Title 42 eventually lifts."

The White House, in its announcement, however, said the measures will only alleviate the immigration system somewhat, but further improvements can "only happen if Republicans in Congress who have spent the past two years talking about border security quit blocking the comprehensive immigration reform and border security measures President Biden proposed on his first day in office and opposing the billions of dollars in additional funds the President has requested for border security and management."

The plan, according to a fact sheet, imposes new consequences for individuals who attempt to enter unlawfully; expands legal pathways for safe, orderly, and humane migration; surges resources to secure the border; disrupts criminal smuggling networks; and supports border communities.

Last fall, the administration rolled out a similar policy for Venezuelans that allowed a pathway for up to 24,000 migrants with preexisting ties in the United States to enter the country, reports Politico. That program's success depended on the use of Title 42 authority to turn away people at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The program for Venezuelans was announced in October 2022 and forces migrants to apply for asylum in their home country and allows for the expulsion of migrants trying to enter the United States illegally through Mexico.

Instead, Venezuelans who applied for humanitarian parole have been allowed to fly into the United States. According to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the policy caused the number of Venezuelan migrants crossing the border illegally to drop by 70%, from about 21,000 in October to 6,200 in November.

Currently, Title 42 allows border officials to rapidly expel migrants from Mexico, Venezuela, and some Central American countries to Mexico without the opportunity of seeking asylum in the United States, Reuters reported.

The new program was unveiled a day after Biden announced plans to visit the U.S.-Mexico border for the first time since becoming president.

The visit comes before next week's trip to Mexico City, where Biden will meet with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, where the border crisis is expected to be a major topic of discussion.

Biden is likely to face criticism by not only immigration advocates, who want the policy lifted, continued scrutiny from Republicans and Democrats on the issues at the border. Further, the plans open the White House to complaints it wants to expand on Title 42, even though the president has pushed to stop the program, Politico reported.

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