Illegal immigration is still a major problem for America. Joe Biden is about to make it worse.
Because the Biden admin has released an amnesty plan that you’re not going to like one bit.
The Department of Homeland Security has announced the arrival of 800 active-duty troops to the southern border and the expansion of a rapid deportation program in an effort to stem the influx of families crossing illegally.
The bad news is that Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has announced a fresh deportation amnesty for over 700,000 Venezuelans and is working to expeditiously provide work permits to unlawful migrants who have been apprehended and released.
He declared that the validity of some of those work licenses will be extended to as much as five years, allowing accepted illegal immigrants to continue working well into the next administration. Previously, the permits were valid for two years.
The policy appears to be strict toward individuals attempting to enter the United States illegally but tolerant toward those who have already made it in.
Mr. Mayorkas’s claims from the summer that he had found a solution to the massive influx of refugees were undermined by the timing of the pronouncements, which occurred as the border lapsed back into disarray.
Thousands of migrants have rushed the Texas border town of Eagle Pass in recent days, prompting the city to declare a disaster and Customs and Border Protection to halt some operations.
According to DHS, 800 additional personnel have been committed to the border from the Department of Defense. So that Border Patrol personnel may return to the field, they will be tasked with logistics and support work. There are already 2,500 National Guardsmen stationed at the border to meet them.
The administration’s insistence that things were getting better at the border after the end of the Title 42 border policy from the Trump era in May and the accompanying decline in unlawful incursions is severely undermined by the decision to deploy the troops.
The calm only lasted for a little over a month.
Although CBP has not yet released August border crossing data, reports indicate a return to historically high levels of illegal entry.
Now Alejandro Mayorkas has given a fresh deportation amnesty to those Venezuelans who have crossed the border illegally.
He initially granted TPS to 242,700 Venezuelans, but then he expanded it to cover an additional 472,000 Venezuelans who have arrived in the United States since March 2021. That many people, the population of a large American city, represent only one nationality.
TPS allows them to delay deportation for 18 months and, more importantly for the migrants, gives them the right to get work permits.
TPS is granted when it would be harmful for both the migrant and their home country to repatriate them immediately following a natural disaster, war, or political turmoil. There has been political unrest in Venezuela for a long time.
In a statement, Mr. Mayorkas clarified that the new amnesty covers only those individuals who entered the United States before July 31.
He didn’t explain his decision, but those who left Venezuela before that date can’t enter the United States legally, and neither can the thousands more who are thought to be making their way via Central America. Mayorkas was silent on the other proposals.
Mayorkas, who erased the strong regulations of the Trump administration and has since battled to control the record flows that occurred, announced new policies on Wednesday.
The current plan calls for sending in more troops, increasing CBP’s ability to detain migrants, and enlarging the Family Expedited Removal Management program to try to deport families who cross the border within 30 days.
Since the program’s launch in May, only 1,600 households have been relocated. According to the agency, they will “scale up significantly.” In contrast, during the months of May through July, an estimated 250,000 illegal immigrants crossed the border.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
