Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador cautioned residents of his country that the border isn’t yet “open” for unhindered migration into the United States during the Biden administration.
“Now, for example, that there is a U.S. immigration policy to regularize the situation of migrants, Mexicans, and our Central American brothers, people think that now, the doors are open, that President Biden is going to immediately regularize all migrants,” Lopez Obrador said on Thursday. “It is not true that everyone can go now to the United States and they will be regularized. That has not been defined yet. Our brother migrants should have this information so that they won’t be deceived by human traffickers, who paint a rosy picture.”
Biden has vowed repeatedly that he would roll back Trump-era policies designed to curb illegal immigration. Earlier on Friday, the Department of Homeland Security announced thousands of migrants waiting in Mexico to be granted asylum in the U.S. as part of former President Donald Trump’s “remain in Mexico” policy will be allowed to enter for processing beginning on Feb. 19.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who cautioned the move “should not be interpreted as an opening for people to migrate irregularly to the United States,” celebrated the change in protocol as evidence of the federal government’s commitment to building a “safe, orderly, and humane” immigration system.
The administration has also terminated existing agreements with the Central American nations as part of its reversal of Trump’s border policies. On Feb. 6, Biden terminated asylum agreements with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The accords allowed the U.S. to “remove certain eligible migrants seeking humanitarian protection” and more effectively combat “criminal organizations and gangs, migrant smuggling, drug trafficking, and human trafficking.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the termination of the trio of agreements and insisted the move would constitute the “first concrete steps on the path to greater partnership and collaboration in the region.” Blinken echoed Lopez Obrador’s and Mayorkas’s sentiments that the policy changes will not usher in unbridled immigration.
“To be clear, these actions do not mean that the U.S. border is open,” he said. “While we are committed to expanding legal pathways for protection and opportunity here and in the region, the United States is a country with borders and laws that must be enforced. We are also committed to providing safe and orderly processing for all who arrive at our border, but those who attempt to migrate irregularly are putting themselves and their families at risk on what can be a very dangerous journey.”
The recent move by Biden follows an executive order from the Democrat on his first day in office in which he ordered a 100-day deportation freeze. Biden also ceased the emergency declaration used to fund the wall along the southern border and ended the “remain in Mexico” policy that mandated migrants stay in their home country until their trial date.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the administration 48 hours after Biden stepped into the Oval Office after his cohort violated an agreement that Texas, along with other states, had with the Department of Homeland Security shortly before Trump departed. The agreement mandated that the DHS consult with states and local jurisdictions before sweeping immigration bills would be enacted. A federal judge has since extended a block on the moratorium as the case continues to be deliberated in court.
