A group of migrants from China surrendered to a Border Patrol agent in remote Southern California as gusts of wind drowned out the hum of high-voltage power lines, joining others from Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia and elsewhere at a desert campsite with shelters made of tree branches.
Their arrival on Wednesday was another sign that agents along parts of the US border with Mexico have been overwhelmed by asylum seekers in recent days. In tiny Eagle Pass, Texas, nearly 6,000 migrants crossed from Mexico into the US in two days, prompting authorities to close one of the town’s two official border crossings so agents could instead help with the influx. Border crossings in San Diego and El Paso, Texas, have recently been closed for similar reasons.
After a dip in illegal crossings following new asylum restrictions in May, President Joe Biden’s administration is back on its heels. Democratic mayors and governors are pushing for more sanctuary policies, and Republicans are seizing on the issue ahead of the 2024 elections.
The Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday it would grant Temporary Protected Status to an estimated 472,000 Venezuelans in the US as of July 31, easing the path to work permits. That’s in addition to the 242,700 Venezuelans who had already qualified for temporary status.
The administration is also sending 800 active-duty military troops to the border, adding to the 2,500 National Guard members already there. It’s expanding border detention facilities by 3,250 people to nearly 23,000, and expanding home detention nationwide for families awaiting initial asylum interviews.
The administration has renewed pressure – and blame – on Congress, which has long failed to agree on comprehensive changes to the nation’s immigration system. The Biden administration is now asking Congress for $4 billion in emergency funding.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that it was ‘using the limited tools available to secure the border and build a safe, orderly and humane immigration system’.
Theresa Cardinal Brown, senior adviser for immigration and border policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said it’s normal to see a dip in illegal crossings after changes like May’s, but that’s usually short-lived once migrants see how things work out.
“People see what happened to the last group of people who tried it and they say, ‘Oh well, maybe it’s not as tough as they say it is,'” Brown said.
An increase in families arriving at the border has led to unacceptable conditions in two of the Border Patrol’s busiest sectors, a court-appointed monitor told a federal court last week. Dr Paul H. Wise said children as young as 8 years old were being separated from their parents during processing in South Texas, a practice that has been used primarily on boys between the ages of 13 and 17.
US Customs and Border Protection said it was reviewing Wise’s report and noted that limited, temporary separations may occur during processing for security reasons, but they are nothing like the long-term separations under former President Donald Trump. Wise said even short-term separations can have “lasting, harmful effects”.
In Eagle Pass, a town of 28,000, about 2,700 migrants crossed on Tuesday and 3,000 on Wednesday, according to Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber. Mayor Rolando Salinas declared the town a disaster area on Tuesday.
US authorities closed a bridge and an international railroad in Eagle Pass on Wednesday to redirect personnel. Union Pacific Railroad Co. said Thursday that thousands of rail cars cross the border there every day.
CBP told business leaders that it did not have an estimate for when rail traffic would resume at Eagle Pass or when U.S.-bound commercial truck traffic would reopen at a bridge in El Paso. Traffic has slowed at other border crossings.
“All along the border, we’re seeing large numbers of migrants, so you’re going to see slowdowns and disruptions” at border crossings, said Dennis McKenzie, CBP’s assistant director for cargo and conveyance security. “It’s all hands on deck.”
