Immigration and the Southern Border in the U.S.

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U.S. House speaker leads GOP lawmakers to the border to slam Biden on immigration

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson led a delegation of House Republicans on a Wednesday trip to the U.S.-Mexico border to demand hard-line immigration proposals in exchange for passage of President Joe Biden’s emergency global security supplemental request.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/01/04/u-s-house-speaker-leads-gop-lawmakers-to-the-border-to-slam-biden-on-immigration/?

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The US sees a drop in illegal border crossings after Mexico increases enforcement

EAGLE PASS, Texas (AP) — Daniel Bermudez’s family had fled Venezuela and was headed to the U.S. to seek asylum when the freight train they were riding through Mexico was stopped by immigration officials.

https://apnews.com/article/mexico-immigration-enforcement-crossings-drop-b67022cf0853dca95a8e0799bb99b68a?

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Armed Texas National Guard soldiers are now blocking federal agents from getting to the border, government alleges

Armed Texas National Guard soldiers are now blocking US Border Patrol agents from accessing the state's border with Mexico, the Justice Department has alleged in a court filing.

https://local.newsbreak.com/texas-state/3296305139240-armed-texas-national-guard-soldiers-are-now-blocking-federal-agents-from-getting-to-the-border-government-alleges?

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Florida's immigration law brings significant unintended consequences

Tampa, Florida — Raquel Lopez Aguilar — a Mexican father of two who is in the country illegally — was working as a roofer in the Tampa area until he was charged with smuggling under Florida's controversial new immigration law.

https://local.newsbreak.com/florida-state/3296743526338-floridas-immigration-law-brings-significant-unintended-consequences?

ps:Exactly!!

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US says Texas blocked border agents from entering park to try to save 3 migrants who drowned

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — The U.S. Homeland Security Department said Saturday that Texas denied federal agents access to a stretch of border when they were trying to rescue three migrants who drowned.

https://apnews.com/article/texas-immigration-border-drownings-deaths-cbp-dps-national-guard-tmd-baa099b2511ecea07c534a61b4212fb0?

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Fueled by unprecedented border crossings, a record 3 million cases clog US immigration courts

MIAMI (AP) — Eight months after crossing the Rio Grande into the United States, a couple in their 20s sat in an immigration court in Miami with their three young children. Through an interpreter, they asked a judge to give them more time to find an attorney to file for asylum and not be deported back to Honduras, where gangs threatened them.

https://apnews.com/article/immigration-asylum-border-courts-deportation-miami-56098ced64bf136172f0224113dabeb6?

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🚨 Freezing temps threaten migrants

People wait for food at a migrant landing zone during a storm in Chicago last week. Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images

Arctic temperatures hitting New York, Chicago and Denver are endangering newly arrived migrants and complicating cities' efforts to manage limited shelter space, Axios' Stef W. Kight, Monica Eng and Alayna Alvarez report. Why it matters: It's a new crisis for strained official and non-government networks trying to care for migrants across the country. It's also another trial for the thousands of people who have taken perilous journeys from their home countries — often with warmer climates — to seek a better life in the U.S. 🔎 Zoom in: Border crossings used to decline or stay low during the winter months — ticking up as the weather warmed. This year, December set a new record for illegal border crossings. What's happening: Chicago has temporarily suspended a new 60-day shelter limit because of subzero temperatures. Denver hasn't been enforcing its 14-day shelter limit for migrant adults, due to temperatures. In New York City, 350 migrant families and 23,000 migrant adults have maxed out new shelter limits, according to city stats provided to Axios. Go deeper.

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With immigration, DeSantis, GOP cut off their noses to spite their faces

On April 12, 1946, my father, Stephen Lloyd, sailed from Kingston, Jamaica, to the United States aboard the SS Marine Marlin, according to records I found at the National Archives. This was his second trip to America to work as a migrant laborer.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/01/19/with-immigration-desantis-gop-cut-off-their-noses-to-spite-their-faces/?

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Hispanic and progressive Democrats protest proposals to limit asylum for immigrants

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers from the Congressional Hispanic and Progressive caucuses appealed to U.S. Senate negotiators Thursday to abandon a plan to curb U.S. asylum laws and diminish the president’s ability to grant special protections for immigrants escaping war and natural disasters.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/01/18/hispanic-and-progressive-democrats-protest-proposals-to-limit-asylum-for-immigrants/?

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A Texas company is suing Chicago after the city began penalizing buses that drop off migrants Texas-based Wynne Transportation will take the nation’s third largest city to federal court, ratcheting up a legal battle over the migrant crisis that’s left U.S. cities struggling for more than a year. Read more.

Why this matters: Since 2022, Texas has sent over 100,000 migrants to Democrat-led “sanctuary cities.” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he launched his busing operation to ease the burden on border cities, and argues that migrants choose their destinations, get free tickets and the cities should live up to their promise of welcoming all.   The influx has overwhelmed major U.S. cities, namely Chicago, New York and Denver, with mayors making pleas for federal help. They call Abbott’s approach inhumane with buses arriving at all hours and with no passenger lists or coordination, particularly for people who have already faced long, often dangerous, journeys to get to the U.S.   The lawsuit against Chicago comes amid a larger political battle involving federal immigration policy and arguments about the rights and treatment of asylum-seekers.

Related coverage ➤ Election-year politics threaten Senate border deal as Trump and his allies rally opposition New York City is suing charter bus companies for transporting migrants from Texas WATCH: AP Explains | Texas’ clash with the Biden administration over Border Patrol access

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Biden says he’s ‘ready to act’ on ‘significant’ changes at the border, including asylum

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden Friday said he backs “significant policy changes” to asylum law, amid ongoing immigration policy negotiations between the White House and Senate tied to passage of a global security package.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/01/20/biden-says-hes-ready-to-act-on-significant-changes-at-the-border-including-asylum/?

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Supreme Court allows federal agents to cut razor wire Texas installed on US-Mexico border

WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed Border Patrol agents to resume cutting for now razor wire that Texas installed along a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border that is at the center of an escalating standoff between the Biden administration and the state over immigration enforcement.

https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-immigration-texas-razor-wire-9daef6bd316211b6633ece718e505187?

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GOP's border split screen

Migrants attempt to reach the border in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Photo: Christian Torres/Anadolu via Getty Images

Former President Trump's dominance in the GOP primary has scrambled the political incentives underlying one of President Biden's top vulnerabilities: the border. Why it matters: The logistical and humanitarian crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border is triggering constitutional challenges and a massive political headache in Congress — with election season only pouring more fuel on the fire, Axios' Stef Kight reports. In Washington, Republican senators are working furiously to salvage a bipartisan border security package that Trump opposes because it could undermine one of his most potent campaign themes. In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is openly defying a U.S. Supreme Court decision and arguing that Biden has failed in his constitutional duty to defend states from a border "invasion." Driving the news: The Senate devolved into chaos after GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) reportedly cast doubt on the pathway for a border deal in a closed-door meeting yesterday. "We don't want to do anything to undermine" Trump, Punchbowl News quoted McConnell as saying. Several Republican senators who have supported the monthslong negotiations arrived to the Capitol angry and confused. "The fact that [Trump] would communicate to Republican senators and congresspeople that he doesn't want us to solve the border problem because he wants to blame Biden for it is really appalling," Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told CNN. "Don't be a coward. Don't pretend that the policy isn't strong. If you want to admit you're just afraid to tell President Trump the truth, that's fine," Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said of fellow Republicans. Some senators said the coverage of McConnell's comments was overblown and misleading, and the GOP leader clarified his support for the negotiations in a conference meeting today. But there's lingering doubt that a deal will come to fruition amid persistent opposition from Senate and House conservatives. "I think it's slipping away. I think when Trump weighed in like he did — remember, that's the political force we're dealing with," said Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.). Meanwhile: Trump today called on "all willing states" to deploy their National Guards to help repel migrants at the border, as Abbott escalates his battle with the Biden administration over border enforcement authority. The governor has argued that Texas' right to defend itself from an "invasion" supersedes any federal statutes — defying Monday's Supreme Court ruling that allowed federal border officials to remove razor wire barriers set up by the state. 25 Republican governors have signed onto a joint statement supporting Abbott and Texas' "constitutional right to self-defense," including the use of razor wire fences to secure the border. What to watch: If Republicans walk away from the bipartisan Senate deal, Biden will seek to paint them as putting partisan interests over real solutions to the border crisis.

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We’re hearing overwrought talk of an ‘invasion.’ It’s not the first time.

With persecution, poverty, and climate change driving large numbers of migrants to the southern border, some in politics and the media are again pushing the panic button.

https://michiganadvance.com/2024/01/24/were-hearing-overwrought-talk-of-an-invasion-its-not-the-first-time/?

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Biden offers fresh assurances he would shut down border ‘right now’ if Congress sends him a deal

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) — Bidding to salvage a border deal in Congress that also would unlock money for Ukraine, President Joe Biden offered fresh assurances Saturday night that he would be willing to close the U.S.-Mexico border if lawmakers would only send him a bill to sign.

https://apnews.com/article/biden-border-deal-mexico-migration-south-carolina-b83f83ed39e59ebb38b7ff093da14706?

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Migrant relocation flyers came from DeSantis administration contractor, records show

The firm that left flyers promoting free migrant relocation trips at a Latino church in east Orlando — sparking controversy and questions among local advocates — is a state contractor for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ highly-publicized relocation initiative, records show.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2024/01/29/migrant-relocation-flyers-came-from-desantis-administration-contractor-records-show/?

ps:If this is true than all I can say is what a low life this man is!!!!!

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Florida leads nation in immigration court backlog as cases surge across US

Carlos Bohorquez hopes to receive good news about his residency status by mail before the end of the year. But he is resigned to the uncertainty and constant waiting.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2024/01/29/florida-leads-nation-in-immigration-court-backlog-as-cases-surge-across-us/?

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President Biden has said he’d shut the US-Mexico border if given the ability President Joe Biden has made some strong claims over the past few days about shutting down the U.S.-Mexico border as he tries to salvage a deal in Congress that would also unlock money for Ukraine. The deal seemed to be nearing completion in the Senate before it began to fall apart, largely because Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump doesn’t want it to happen. Read more.

Key points: Where is Biden’s tough talk coming from? Biden is seeking to disarm criticism of his handling of migration at the border as immigration becomes an increasing matter of concern to Americans in the lead-up to the presidential election.   Does Biden already have the authority to shut down the border? House Speaker Mike Johnson has argued that presidents already have enough authority to stop illegal border crossings. Biden could, in theory, strongly limit asylum claims and restrict crossings, but the effort would almost certainly be challenged in court or blocked without a congressional law backing the new changes.   What’s the outlook for the proposed deal? Prospects are dim. A group of senators negotiating the deal had hoped to release detailed text this week, but conservatives already say the measures do not go far enough to limit immigration.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ House GOP releases impeachment articles in bid to oust Homeland Security’s Mayorkas over the border   Trump praises Texas’ governor as the border state clashes with the Biden administration over immigration   Biden and Germany’s Scholz will meet in Washington as US and EU aid for Ukraine hangs in the balance

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Just now, phkrause said:

Does Biden already have the authority to shut down the border? House Speaker Mike Johnson has argued that presidents already have enough authority to stop illegal border crossings. Biden could, in theory, strongly limit asylum claims and restrict crossings, but the effort would almost certainly be challenged in court or blocked without a congressional law backing the new changes.

Interesting, because if that were the case, than why hasn't any previous president done it?????

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DeSantis sending fresh troops to join Texas’ border standoff with Biden administration

Gov. Ron DeSantis will deploy as many as 1,000 Florida National Guard troops, plus members of his Florida State Guard and law enforcement officers, to back up Texas in its standoff with the Biden administration over the U.S.-Mexico border.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/02/01/desantis-sending-fresh-troops-to-join-texas-border-standoff-with-biden-administration/?

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Votes on major bipartisan immigration deal in Congress said to be nearing

WASHINGTON — A U.S. Senate vote is expected next week on a bipartisan deal that would overhaul U.S. immigration law and provide more than $100 billion for a global security package.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/02/01/votes-on-major-bipartisan-immigration-deal-in-congress-said-to-be-nearing-2/?

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Biden's no-win border crisis

Photo illustration: Allie Carl/Axios. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Biden's struggles with the chaos at the border are partly of his own doing. But no president in recent history — including Donald Trump — has faced an immigration crisis of the scale that Biden has, Axios' Stef Kight and Alex Thompson report. Why it matters: Biden was elected after promising to end harsh limits that Trump imposed on immigration. Almost immediately, the president was trapped by a humanitarian and political crisis. The big picture: The reality at the U.S.-Mexico border over the last three years is unprecedented — back-to-back-to-back records for migrant encounters by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. Millions of people — 2.5 million crossings last year — have shown up at the border, many of them having survived journeys not just through Mexico, but from Central and South America and beyond. The Darién Gap — a 100-mile-long mountainous jungle separating Colombia and Panama — once "served as a real barrier for people from the rest of the world," Migration Policy Institute president Andrew Selee told Axios. Now, "there's a routine built up that allowed half a million people to go through last year." Many of the migrants have come from nations that have little experience with or refuse to accept deportation flights from the U.S. — nations such as Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. These new groups of migrants have encountered a border system stuck decades in the past. One example: Border Patrol stations designed for Mexican adults — not families from Central America. There's now a backlog of 3 million cases in U.S. immigration courts — more than 1 million of them involving people seeking asylum. Between the lines: When he took office in January 2021, Biden also had to deal with baggage from the pandemic and the Trump administration. COVID-19 restrictions limited space in shelters and detention facilities. Trump imposed several restrictions on asylum and curtailed the U.S. program for refugees. When Biden took office, hundreds of children remained separated from their parents because of Trump's family separation policy for undocumented people. Zoom out: Biden, now up for re-election, is caught between a rock and a hard place. On the left, progressive and immigration groups were morally outraged at how Trump's administration treated immigrants. They pinned their hopes on Biden, applauding his early actions to reverse Trump's policies. As the border crisis worsened and Biden adopted some Trump-era restrictions on immigration and asylum, Biden's relationship with those groups soured. On the right, Republicans are putting the squeeze on Biden. They've campaigned relentlessly on the "chaos at the border" — only to walk away from a bipartisan border deal in Congress that included concessions from Democrats. GOP support for the plan collapsed after Trump opposed the bill. The border has long been a key campaign issue for him — and he didn't want Biden to have a "win" on the border. Meanwhile, House Republicans are moving toward a historic impeachment of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his handling of the crisis. The Republicans' narrative has found its mark: 70% of Americans disapprove of Biden's handling of immigration.

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📊 3 presidents, 3 border crises

Data: Customs and Border Protection; Chart: Axios Visuals. Note: Fiscal years begin Oct. 1 of the previous year. The origins of people seeking entry into the U.S. at the southern border have shifted dramatically during the past decade — from a majority of Mexican adults to a diverse mix of children, families and adults from all over the world, Axios' Russell Contreras and Stef report. Why it matters: The rapidly changing dynamics — coupled with outdated immigration laws and infrastructure — is a recipe for disaster. It's why Presidents Obama, Trump and now Biden all faced never-before-seen border crises. Zoom in: The current border crisis has its roots in 2014, when rival gangs in Central America forced families and unaccompanied kids to flee during Obama's second term at unprecedented levels. Continued violence in Central America pushed more families and teens to northern Mexico during the Trump presidency, with a notable surge in 2019. During Biden's presidency, the pandemic's aftermath, global crises and smuggling networks have pushed migrants to the border from South America and beyond, including Ukraine and China. Flashback: Border apprehensions in the 1980s came amid civil wars in Central America. Increases in the 1990s stemmed from the peso crisis in Mexico.

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🔎 Inside Trump's plans to deport millions

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photos: Veronica G Cardenas and Claudio Cruz/AFP via Getty Images, Shannon Stapleton-Pool/Getty Images

Trump's plan to crack down on immigration includes using a range of tools to deport millions of people in the U.S. each year — from obscure laws to military funds to law enforcement officers from all levels of government. Why it matters: History tells us such an effort would dramatically disrupt local communities and economies across the U.S. — and sow fear among the millions of people without legal status, Stef and Russell report. If elected, Trump wants to mobilize ICE agents — along with the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, federal prosecutors, the National Guard, and even state and local law enforcement officers — to carry out deportations of undocumented immigrants, a source familiar with the plan told Axios. Trump has long campaigned on anti-immigrant fears. "They're poisoning the blood of our country," he said at a rally last month, a line he repeats often. Zoom in: Fast-track deportations — now reserved for recent crossers encountered near the border — would be expanded to apply to anyone who illegally crossed the border and couldn't prove they'd been living in the U.S. for more than two years. Trump would curtail the usual multistep deportation process by using an obscure section of the 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts to immediately round up and deport some migrants with criminal histories. The military would build massive sites near the border to hold people awaiting deportation. It could evoke scenes from the 1950s, when more than 1 million undocumented Mexican immigrants were deported under President Eisenhower. It was the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. The vast majority of Americans alive today have never seen anything like it. The operation used military-style tactics to round up and house up to 1.3 million people from Mexico — and even some Mexican Americans who were U.S. citizens — according to federal immigration records. Scholars say there could have been many more. Keep reading

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🇻🇪 One Venezuelan's risky asylum quest

Migrants hoping to enter the U.S. at El Paso, Texas, are grouped together while waiting to be processed in Ciudad Juarez last September. Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

EL PASO, Texas — Julio Cesar, 55, nearly drowned while crossing a river in the Daríen Gap jungle in 2022 after fleeing Venezuela because of political persecution and a dire economic situation, Axios' Astrid Galván reports. Why it matters: Julio Cesar's story is typical of the desperate migrants who risk their lives to try to attain asylum in the U.S., the vast majority fleeing violence, persecution, poverty, a lack of access to medical care and more. Zoom in: Julio Cesar, who asked that his last name not be used because he feared jeopardizing his asylum application, is among millions of Venezuelans who have fled that country in recent years. He said he was targeted by Venezuela's government for campaigning for a member of a small political party not affiliated with the ruling regime. Julio Cesar left his hometown on Sept. 16, 2022. He said he was robbed at gunpoint, extorted in almost every country he passed through, and injured his feet so badly while crossing the Daríen Gap that he needed medical care. He arrived in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, across the border from El Paso, a month later. Julio Cesar unsuccessfully tried several times to cross into the U.S., but ended up in Juárez for weeks, nearly losing hope, he said. But in January 2023, the Biden administration launched a parole program that allows asylum-seekers from certain countries to make an appointment using an app before crossing the border. Julio Cesar applied and got an appointment a couple of days later. "It's incredible when you get that email," he says, breaking into tears. "You think about this moment from the minute you leave home." He's now living in El Paso and has a job doing maintenance for a business while he awaits a decision on his applications for asylum and temporary protected status to prevent him from being deported.