The Biden administration will begin allowing Central American asylum-seekers who had been forced to remain in Mexico into the United States to have their claims heard.
The Department of Homeland Security announced Friday that starting Feb. 19, the thousands of migrants who had been forced to wait in Mexico for months under the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols will be allowed into the U.S. for processing. Approximately 25,000 asylum-seekers have open, undecided cases and will be brought in.
“As President Biden has made clear, the U.S. government is committed to rebuilding a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system,” said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “This latest action is another step in our commitment to reform immigration policies that do not align with our nation’s values. Especially at the border, however, where capacity constraints remain serious, changes will take time.”
The DHS will announce a virtual registration process so that migrants can sign up from any location. They will be told to show up for admission at a nearby port of entry at a specific date and time. DHS is working with the State and Justice departments on the rollout. Only migrants whose cases have made it to the pending stage before DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review will be eligible for admittance.
Migrants allowed into the country for legal proceedings will be required to wear face masks and socially distance themselves from others, both precautionary measures to minimize the spread of the coronavirus. Everyone will be tested for the coronavirus before entering the U.S.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat, told reporters on Friday that anyone who tests positive for the virus will be returned to Mexico.
The policy change does not apply to asylum-seekers who had been returned to Mexico who do not yet have active immigration court dates because they are too early in the process. It also does not affect the more than 75,000 people who were caught illegally entering the U.S. from Mexico in January.
“This announcement should not be interpreted as an opening for people to migrate irregularly to the United States,” said Mayorkas.
