“We can’t go back to Mexico,” one migrant tearfully told Spectrum News. “Why? Because we are in danger everywhere.”
A surge in such illegal crossings this summer and autumn is calling into question the effectiveness of new border policies implemented at the state level by Republican Governor Greg Abbott of Texas and at the national level by Democratic President Joe Biden.
The number of migrants apprehended by the Border Patrol for illegally crossing the US-Mexico border dropped in June after the new federal rules were put in place, but has since increased. In August, US Border Patrol apprehensions were 37% higher than in July, but have remained about the same since August 2022.
The Biden administration’s new rules made it possible for anyone who crossed the border illegally to be put on a deportation flight, made ineligible for asylum and barred from re-entering the US for several years.
In a new announcement on Thursday, senior administration officials said such deportations would resume for Venezuelans. The officials would not say how many Venezuelans could be deported, but they said these deportation flights would begin in the next few days.
One official told reporters the policy “demonstrates our commitment to imposing consequences on those who cross the border illegally, and it’s a direct result of these individuals not taking advantage of the legal pathways that we’ve created and expanded, which includes the humanitarian parole process for Venezuelan nationals and their family members”.
Asked why Biden and Abbott’s measures don’t deter border crossings, Denise Gilman, co-director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Texas Law School, said, “Well, because deterrence never really works.”
“Tough measures at the border don’t really have a meaningful impact on migrant flows, especially when you’re talking about refugee flows, people fleeing very violent, dangerous situations. They’re really not even thinking about what measures are in place at the border,” she continued. “They’re really looking at what the situation is in their home country.”
Abbott’s office defended its $8 billion border force. In a statement to Spectrum News, his press secretary said: “Every illegal immigrant apprehended, every criminal arrested, and every ounce of drugs seized through Operation Lone Star would have otherwise found its way into communities across Texas and the nation because of President Joe Biden’s reckless open border policies.”
According to Abbott’s office, 473,000 people have been apprehended and 34,000 criminals arrested under the programme so far.
But Gilman, who also researches migrant rights and detention, said she believes illegal crossings should not be seen as just a law enforcement problem. She said that while many migrants may not fully understand the ever-changing rules governing the border, and that cartels may spread misinformation, there are some migrants who are so desperate that they will take the risk.
“Even if a migrant knows that they might be detained or have other problems at the border,” Gilman said, “the immediacy of ‘I could be killed tomorrow because I’ve received a direct threat and someone in my family has already been killed,’ they’re still going to make the journey. It’s worth it. The risk is not greater than the potential for safety.
This week, the administration said it would waive some two dozen federal laws and regulations to build additional border barriers. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said his agency had resumed construction of the wall, a signature policy of former President Donald Trump, because Congress had appropriated the money and the law required it.
“From day one, this administration has made it clear that a border wall is not the answer. That remains our position and our position has never wavered,” Mayorkas said in a statement. “We have repeatedly asked Congress to rescind this funding, but they have not done so and we are compelled to follow the law.”
