President Joe Biden called on Congress to secure the U.S.-Mexico border in his State of the Union speech.
The call to action was part of a broader pitch to reform the legal immigration system and comes as the southern border remains in crisis.
“If we are to advance liberty and justice, we need to secure the border and fix the immigration system. We can do both,” Biden said Tuesday evening.
Illegal immigration at the southern border has soared since shortly after Biden moved into the White House 14 months ago, rising at a faster rate in his first six months than during any time in the Border Patrol’s 98-year history.
More than 2 million migrants were stopped while attempting to enter the United States from Mexico illegally in 2021, an astronomical figure compared to the 500,000 people stopped in recent years under the Obama and Trump administrations. The surge in illegal immigration was the result of the Biden administration’s easing of border policies and the collapse of economies in Latin America due to the pandemic, which prompted more people to flee.
Approximately 700,000 of the 2 million people stopped at the border were released into the U.S., and the remainder were sent back to Mexico or another country, with few being prosecuted.
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Biden made no mention of border numbers. Instead, he touted new technology at land ports of entry to detect drugs in vehicles passing through inspection booths and enhanced security at the Guatemala-Mexico border.
“We’re putting in place dedicated immigration judges so families fleeing persecution and violence can have their cases heard faster,” said Biden. “We’re securing commitments and supporting partners in South and Central America to host more refugees and secure their own borders.”
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However, Biden promised as a candidate to increase the number of immigration judges in an effort to address the more than 1 million pending cases, and he also promised to set up systems in Central and South America for citizens to apply in their home country for asylum in the U.S. rather than traveling to the U.S. The Biden administration has yet to follow through on either commitment.
