On the last day of Title 42, chaos and despair grow on the northern border of Mexico, where Migrants have attempted to cross into the United States en masse with tactics such as throwing themselves into the Rio Grande and arm human stampedes.
On the border between Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and Brownsville, Texas, in the southern United States, migrants have been preparing these days for the end of Title 42, a health regulation that allows immediate expulsions of migrants at the border.
In the hours before US military have installed a security concertina, that is, coiled razor wire, to prevent irregular crossings on the banks of the Rio Grandeor Rio Grande in the US, to contain migrants.
But, despite this, foreigners continue to jump into the water to reach US soil and, although some have been returned by the same flow to Mexico, others have made it through, mainly because they bring minors with them.
In the last 24 hours, groups of migrants, mostly Venezuelans, have entered the river that divides both countries and, although the authorities have tried to inhibit the action, families continue to filter along the river.
This occurs due to the uncertainty that the entry into force of Title 8 has brought, which implies “rapid and massive expulsions of migrant citizens who violate US regulationsentry to that country.
“We do not know what other law will come that can protect us, that can give us that security that we are going to pass to the United States. So we made the decision to risk it,” a Venezuelan who preferred to remain anonymous told EFE.
On the Mexican side, agents from the National Institute of Migration (INM) stationed themselves at the points where there was a flow of migrants, while the US military placed the sharp wire fence to prevent their passage and even yelled at them to return to Mexico.
“They are inhuman”
The tension at the border grows before the end this Thursday night of Title 42, a measure adopted by Donald Trump (2017-2021) and later continued by President Joe Biden to expel migrants on the grounds of the covid-19 pandemic. 19, an emergency declaration that is also about to end in the US.
After the end of Title 42, with which 2.8 million migrants were expelledthe United States will apply Title 8, the norm that has historically governed migration, and, in addition, the Biden government has announced new measures that restrict access to request asylum at the border with Mexico.
With the new obstacle extended and the federal forces, there were migrants who did not cross that barrier and returned to Matamoros along the Rio Grande, defying danger in an area where at least one native of Maracaibo, Venezuela, has already drowned.
“They are inhumane, they told us that you cannot (cross) because it is already closed,” Venezuelan Karen Méndez, who had to return to Mexico, told EFE.
Desperate migrants began to look for places where there was no security, or agents to scare them away because their only objective was to cross into the United States to request their asylum process in that country.
“We have no information about the changes. We do fear an arrest, but we have to risk it,” a Venezuelan who said his name is Alejandro argued to EFE.
Most of the foreigners who entered the river had arrived in the last 24 hours looking for an alternative to be received by the Biden government, without taking into account the “CBP One” application that was enabled to register them.
crucial hours
As time passes and the end of Title 42 approaches, the massive crossing does not stop at the natural border between both nations.
“Not staying here, we are going forward, it is there, backwards or to gain momentum. We come from hell, we come from the jungle, we go with God and we go forward,” Darwin Mercado told EFE.
at a critical moment the US military yelled at the INM agents why they were letting the migrants throughwhile the Mexicans blamed them for momentarily removing the sharp wire fence to make way for groups of migrants.
The United States repeats and repeats: “The southern border is not open”
The United States government repeated this Thursday what has become its mantra in recent weeks: “the southern border is not open“, and it will not be after the lifting tonight of Title 42, a rule for which it has been carrying out hot expulsions during the pandemic.
To reinforce this message, the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), Alejandro Mayorkas, appeared this Thursday at the White House press conference together with the government spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre.
Mayorkas’s words were practically the same as those he delivered on Wednesday at a press conference at the DHS headquarters, but his appearance in the press room of the presidential mansion gave an idea of the urgency facing the US authorities in the border due to the increase in the flow of migrants trying to cross from Mexico.
The person in charge recalled that as of next midnight “people who arrive at the southern border” will be subject to Title 8, the norm that has historically governed the emigration process and that will replace Title 42.
“This means that if someone arrives at our southern border after the next midnight they will presumably be ineligible for asylum and subject to more serious consequences for trespassing, including a minimum five-year ban and potential criminal prosecution“, he stressed.
He affirmed that they have reinforced the number of troops in the area and that they have been preparing for this moment for two years: “We are increasing to 24,000 Border Patrol agents, 4,000 soldiersthousands of contractors and 1,000 officials and asylum judges”, he listed.
He insisted that they expect large numbers of arrests of irregular migrants on the border with Mexico and that, in fact, they are already seeing large numbers in certain sectors.
Mayorkas mentioned the measures that the Executive of President Joe Biden has adopted in recent weeks to deal with what is anticipated to be a major immigration crisis and assured that his country is applying harsher consequences against those who enter the United States irregularly.
“During the first half of this fiscal year we have removed more than 665,000 people, we are carrying out dozens of deportation flights every week and we continue to increase them,” he said. Just yesterday we worked with the Government of Mexico to expel nearly 1,000 Venezuelans who did not use available legal avenues to enter the United States.”
He said that the US is working “closely with Mexico” and recalled the telephone conversation earlier this week between Biden and his Mexican counterpart, Andrés Manuel López Obrador: “Mexico is taking very important security measures that we greatly appreciate and that they have been taken in coordination with us,” he said.
AMLO promises to “help with everything” to avoid chaos at the border
The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, promised this morning in his daily press conference to “help the United States in everything” to avoid chaos at the border before the end of Title 42.
“(I promised) to help in everything, to cooperate with the United States Government so that there is no chaos and, much less, violence on the border, we are helping in the southeast so that migrants are protected,” he said.
In addition, he revealed that he will send more elements of the National Guard to the borders to deal with the migratory flow that is expected, which is added to the extensive US military deployment on the other side of the border.
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EFE International news agency based in Madrid and present in more than 110 countries.