According to FAIR, FEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM
Migrants have formed a caravan north of the Mexico-Guatemala border, heading to the United States in what could become the largest migrant caravan in history. The immigration policy of President Biden appears to be a significant motivating factor for migrants in this caravan, with one Haitian man citing the end of Title 42 as a reason for his decision to journey to the United States with this caravan.
Migrant caravans are a growing phenomenon in which migrants travel in large groups, often supported by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other nonprofits, in order to reduce the violence and exploitation that is common along the route from South and Central America to the U.S.-Mexico border. One of the first well-known caravans began in March 2018, when more than one thousand Central Americans, supported by the Pueblo Sin Fronteras organization, traveled to America’s southern border.
Today’s caravan dwarfs those formed in 2018. Reporting indicates that the current caravan could swell to include over 15,000 individuals – all of whom plan to travel to the United States and claim asylum.
Migrants abuse the asylum process because it grants them temporary legal status in the country, where they are free to live and work while their asylum claim navigates through the immigration courts.
The average number of days that it takes to close an immigration case is 852 days – meaning that most cases take well over two years to complete and close. During those two years, aliens receive work permits and begin to build roots in this country, even though immigration judges reject a majority of asylum claims. In FY 2021, immigration judges denied 63 percent of all (defensive and offensive) asylum claims.
Until the Biden administration takes the border crisis seriously, nothing will change. President Biden could take measures to address this situation, such as by fully implementing the Migrant Protection Protocols and by reentering the asylum cooperation agreement negotiations with the northern triangle countries. But given this administration’s actions so far, that seems unlikely.
FAIR issued this release in response to the ruling that is holding back this tidal wave, the injunction preventing the Biden administration from lifting Trump’s Title 42 which was enacted in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic when the CDC issued a public health order to stop the spread of Covid-19. The order allowed authorities to swiftly expel migrants at US land borders, and it’s been extended multiple times. The policy is widely known as Title 42, for the portion of US code that allowed the CDC director to issue it.:
“The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) applauds Judge Robert R. Summerhays’ preliminary injunction ruling blocking the Biden administration from lifting Title 42, the only remaining mechanism for controlling our southern border.
“In its 16 months in power, the Biden administration has consciously created an unprecedented surge of illegal migration with Title 42 serving as the last constraint on its plan to completely abandon enforcement of our border. By the Department of Homeland Security’s own reckoning, their decision to cancel Title 42 would have led to at least an immediate doubling of April’s record number of illegal entries, all of whom they planned to quickly process and disperse around the country.
“Judge Summerhays’ ruling may prevent the crisis from becoming exponentially worse, but it is not a solution to the problem the Biden administration is deliberately inflicting on the American public. The ball is now in Congress’ court, which has the power to hold this rogue administration accountable for its ongoing refusal to carry out its constitutional obligation to enforce our nation’s immigration laws.”
Contact: Preston Huennekens (phuennekens@fairus.org)