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Border appears calm after lifting of pandemic asylum restrictions

Published:Saturday | May 13, 2023 | 12:49 AM
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US Border Patrol agents move through a crowd of migrants that have waited between two border walls for days to apply for asylum, as they decide who to take next to processing Friday, May 12, in San Diego. Hundreds of migrants remain waiting between the two
AP
US Border Patrol agents move through a crowd of migrants that have waited between two border walls for days to apply for asylum, as they decide who to take next to processing Friday, May 12, in San Diego. Hundreds of migrants remain waiting between the two walls, many for days.
Migrants reach through a border wall for clothing handed out by volunteers, as they wait between two border walls to apply for asylum Friday, May 12, in San Diego.
AP
Migrants reach through a border wall for clothing handed out by volunteers, as they wait between two border walls to apply for asylum Friday, May 12, in San Diego.
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EL PASO (AP):

The border between the US and Mexico was relatively calm Friday, offering few signs of the chaos that had been feared following a rush by worried migrants to enter the US before the end of pandemic-related immigration restrictions.

Less than 24 hours after the rules known as Title 42 were lifted, migrants and government officials were still assessing the effect of the change and the new regulations adopted by President Joe Biden’s administration to stabilise the region.

“We did not see any substantial increase in immigration this morning,” said Blas Nunez-Neto of the Department of Homeland Security. He said the agency did not have specific numbers because it was early in the day.

Migrants along the border continued to wade into the Rio Grande to take their chances getting into the US while defying officials shouting for them to turn back. Others hunched over cellphones trying to access the appointment app that is a centrepiece of the new measures. Migrants with appointments walked across a bridge hoping for a new life. And lawsuits sought to stop some of the measures.

The Biden administration has said the new system is designed to crack down on illegal crossings and to offer a new legal pathway for migrants who pay thousands to smugglers to get them to the border.

Migrants are now essentially barred from seeking asylum in the US if they did not first apply online or seek protection in the countries they travelled through. Families allowed in as their immigration cases progress will face curfews and GPS monitoring.

Across the river from El Paso in Ciudad Juárez, many migrants watched their cellphones in hopes of getting a coveted appointment to seek entry. The application to register to enter the US had changed, and some were explaining to others how to use it.

Nearby, other migrants were charging their phones on a lamppost to try to get an appointment. Most of them were resigned to wait.

“I hope it’s a little better and that the appointments are streamlined a little more,” said Yeremy Depablos, 21, a Venezuelan travelling with seven cousins who has been waiting in the city for a month.

Fearing deportation, Depablos did not want to cross illegally. “We have to do it the legal way.”

The legal pathways touted by the administration consist of a programme that permits up to 30,000 people a month from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter if they apply online with a financial sponsor and enter through an airport.

About 100 processing centres are opening in Guatemala, Colombia and elsewhere for migrants to apply to go to the US, Spain or Canada. Up to 1,000 can enter daily through land crossings with Mexico if they snag an appointment on the app.