The United States is facing a border crisis due to the increase in immigrants who, as a result of the economic situation in their countries of origin or due to climate change, have forced them to go in search of the American dream. The issue becomes pressing in the face of the upcoming elections, where Democrats are concerned that the situation will be politicized.
According to figures from the US Border Patrol (CBP), in the first week of December 2023, 9,923 people trying to cross from Mexico to the United States were detained daily.
Of these figures, according to the CBP, 2,398 are Mexican and 7,525 are of other nationalities, so it was estimated that there would be 307,000 people detained at the border by the end of 2023 (of which, almost 75 thousand would be from Mexico).
However, currently immigrants come from all over the world (52 percent), unlike a few years ago, where the majority came from Mexico and Central America, and "that is a great difficulty," assured Angela Kelly, Senior Counsel for Policy and Partnerships at the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the American Immigration Council (AIC), during a briefing held by Ethnic Media Services.
?Immigration has changed in recent years, it has changed in the form and number of encounters, this means that if the border patrol confronts all the people who are entering; Before they would have said it was impossible, but today there are 4,000 or 5,000 a day, the numbers we see now are up to 11,000?, commented Angela Kelly.
President Joseph Biden is expected to move, with his authority, what is necessary to create a legal path of protection to enter the country, considering that there are key points that can improve the mobilization of migrants, including how to serve more and better those who request asylum, since the daily flow far exceeds the capabilities of the immigration agencies, said Angela Kelly, while recognizing that the problem will continue.
Kelly stressed that it is important to recognize that new avenues and policies have been created so that immigrants have more options, however, in practice the expected results have not been achieved.
Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of America's Voice, a non-profit organization based in Washington DC that defends the rights of immigrants, said that the lack of immigration reform is, in part, the reason why we are currently experiencing a such a severe immigration crisis, because, in recent years, the country's immigration system has not been updated, although efforts have been made to fix and improve it.
The expert highlighted that the main reasons that have driven the increase in the flow of migrants on the southern border are the unstable economy of their countries of origin and the impacts of climate change, so not everything focuses on United States policies. .
Cárdenas added that America is an immigrant nation, since more than 80 percent of American voters accepted a progressive option, "America wants a compassionate legal system."
?We are facing a significant threat, Trump has already said that he is going to carry out major deportations and incarcerations, so they have already given an idea of what they are going to do, we must understand that this goes beyond our communities, our immigrants, these are a threat to us?, Cárdenas commented.
Lupita Martínez de la Coalition for the Human Rights of Immigrants (CHIRLA), which is made up of diverse immigrant families and individuals who act as agents of social change at the national level to achieve a just society that fully includes immigrants.
?We have seen many children who arrive very tired from the journey, from all the traveling. We have medical care to wait for them, we also have people who support us as translators and we take them to a welcome center so they can rest and eat.
In this way, they look for a way to support and help migrants who are sent to other various states of the American Union, welcoming them and supporting them to make their journey and stay easier.
CHIRLA received the first truck in June 2023 and to date more than 39 trucks of people have been served.
Likewise, he commented that only 3 percent of migrants who arrive in the country stay in Los Angeles, so they seek to guide and support them to reach their destinations. The way they work is through collective support, donations and other organizations that drive the work done.
The experts agreed that there is still much to do and the political and social circumstances faced by other countries increase the flow of migrants to the southern border in search of entering the United States to obtain a better quality of life, so these phenomena will continue to be present. , and it will be the next administration who will have the task of improving the conditions of immigrants, betting that the Democratic party is a more viable option.
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