The first of many asylum-seekers are allowed to enter the U.S. Friday at San Diego's U.S. / Mexico border crossing. With the Biden administration's elimination of the "Remain in Mexico" policy, asylum-seekers can now wait in the U.S. instead of returning to Mexico while their immigration case is processed.
U.S. officials estimate that there are 70,000 asylum-seekers in Mexico and that 25,000 of these people have active immigration cases that once processed will be allowed into the U.S. as a result of the policy change.
Asylum-seekers have been cautioned not to show up at border crossings if they don't have active immigration cases. The U.S. Immigration agency has sent notifications to those who are eligible to enter the U.S. as their case is processed.
All asylum-seekers will be tested COVID-19 by the International Organization for Migration, and anyone testing positive will be quarantined for 10 days before they can enter the U.S.
U.S. officials have stated that they can process about 300 asylum-seekers per day, but initially the amount will be less. San Diego-based outreach groups have offered to assist the asylum-seekers as after they enter the U.S.
On Monday, February 22 asylum seekers will be allowed to enter the U.S. from Matamoros, Mexico at Brownsville, Texas and on February 26 from Juarez, Mexico, into El Paso, Texas.
The day prior to the first Asylum-seekers entering the U.S., President Joe Biden unveiled his immigration plan, which some are calling the "most radical bill ever written." In an interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham, former White House adviser Stephen Miller shared his interpretation of the bill, which is said to:
- Eliminate any penalty associated with immigrants living in the U.S. without authorization.
- Immediately provide green cards to all farm workers, immigrants with temporary protected status, and young people who arrived illegally in the U.S. as children (Dreamers).
- Eliminate a law passed by President Clinton that requires a waiting period to get free federal health care for people who get green cards.
- Impose a $50,000 fine if a federal worker refers an application to law enforcement because they are concerned about something they see on it.
- Authorize every illegal alien in the country who submits an application to the U.S. government to gain employment immediately - employers are 'immediately allowed to hire them even if they haven't submitted their application'.
- Any illegal alien who lived in the U.S. for at least 3 years and was deported by the Trump administration can reapply for citizenship.
- Order the Secretary of State to mail applications to the 200 countries around the world that illegal aliens were deported to.
- Call for new technology at the border, but does not contain provisions for enhanced border security.
- Allocate $4 billion over 4 years to Latin American countries to address the cause of immigration, and establishes refugee processing in Central America.
- Replace the word "alien" with "noncitizen" in law.
Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, who co-sponsored the 353-page legislative bill, said "We have an economic and moral imperative to pass big, bold and inclusive immigration reform."
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