US considers allowing families separated at the border to reunite in the country

First modification: 03/02/2021 – 01:01

The US government said it will “explore” how to allow migrant families separated at the border under Donald Trump’s rule to reunite and legally live in the United States.

The Secretary of Homeland Security of the United States, Alejandro Mayorkas, announced this Monday, March 1, that the Executive led by Joe Biden is exploring the possibility of allowing migrant families separated at the border during the Trump era to reunite and live legally in the United States if they wish.

At a press conference at the White House, Mayorkas stressed the “urgency” of solving the situation of the hundreds of undocumented minors who were separated from their families by the “zero tolerance” policy promoted by Trump between 2017 and 2018.

Undocumented immigrants in a Texas detention center. Four US states refuse to deploy National Guard troops to the Mexican border over the policy of separating the children of illegal immigrants from their parents US Customs and Border Protection / AFP / Archives

Some of the parents of these children have not yet been located, after the Trump administration accused them of federal immigration crimes and deported them or sent them to jail. The children, meanwhile, were labeled “unaccompanied” and sent to shelters near the border.

Financing of legal and health services

“Our hope is to reunite families, either here or in their home country. We are confident that we can give them a choice. And if, in fact, they want to reunite here in the United States, we will explore legal avenues for them to stay in the United States. “said Mayorkas.

The Department of Homeland Security affirmed in a statement that the legal, education and health costs derived from family reunification will never be covered by the families themselves, but will be financed by the Government and even by non-profit organizations and the private sector. .

A group of Central American migrants walk along the fence between Mexico and the United States after crossing the border in El Paso, Texas, on May 15, 2019. José Luis González / Reuters

All these possible measures are covered by an executive order implemented on February 2 by which the Government created the family reunification working group. The new announcement includes the possibility of including the siblings of separated minors among the beneficiaries of the measures.

“We are saying don’t come now.”

The number of migrants arriving at the Mexican border with the United States has increased in the last two months, which has provoked criticism from Republicans and Donald Trump of the new Administration, which relaxed the immigration measures taken by the previous Executive .

US President Donald Trump visits a section of the US-Mexico border wall in Otay Mesa, California, on September 18, 2019. © Tom Brenner / File Photo, Reuters

Despite this increase in the migratory flow, Mayorkas denied that it is possible to speak of a crisis at the border and described the situation as “a challenge … that we are handling.” “It takes time to emerge from the depths of the cruelty established by the Administration before ours,” he insisted.

However, he recalled that the Government continues to deny entry to practically all those who arrive without papers, due to the pandemic. “We are not saying that (the asylum seekers) do not come, we are saying that they do not come now,” he said. We will have to wait for the Biden administration to confirm in the near future if it materializes this drastic change of direction in the immigration policy of the United States.

With Reuters and EFE

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source https://pledgetimes.com/us-considers-allowing-families-separated-at-the-border-to-reunite-in-the-country/