Biden says returning migrants to Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua is ‘illogical’

(CNN Spanish) – US President Joe Biden spoke to reporters on Tuesday about the possibility of returning illegal immigrants from places like Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua to their countries and said the proposal was “illogical.”

In his appearance in front of reporters at the White House before heading to New York to participate in the meetings of the United Nations General Assembly, Biden referred to the number of immigrants who arrive in the United States from various Latin American countries. In response to a reporter’s question why the country’s southern border was “sunk” during his reign, Biden referred to immigrants from three specific countries: Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.

Currently, Biden said immigrants from these three countries are arriving, places that were not usual before, because those who arrived previously were immigrants from Central America and Mexico.

What is under my watch now is Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. Biden said. “And being able to send them back to those countries is not rational. You can take them back and accept them.”

Biden said he is working on immigration policy with “Mexico and other countries to see if we can stem the flow” of migrants at the US southern border.

An alarming increase in the number of immigrants

The United States is increasingly examining migrant arrivals at the southern border bordering Mexico. In fact, a A report from the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says that so far this fiscal year – which began in October 2021 – this agency’s encounters with migrants along the border with Mexico have already exceeded two million people. That report, in line with what Biden said, indicates that immigration Countries such as Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba is increasing.

The data shows that in August, the number of encounters with immigrants rose to 203,598 along the southern border of the United States. Of these, 22% were people who crossed more than once.

President Joe Biden’s government continues to enforce the so-called Section 42, a restriction born during the COVID-19 pandemic in then-President Donald Trump’s administration, that allows border authorities to reject immigrants, but there are restrictions based on nationality. . Cold relations with countries like Cuba and Venezuela also prevent the United States from turning people away.

Last month, 55,333 migrants were found at the border from Venezuela, Cuba or Nicaragua, an increase of 175% since last August.

The White House has acknowledged that increasing immigration is a challenge. When a reporter asked a White House official on Monday if the administration was considering moving immigrants inland, one official cited the ongoing discussion about how to improve processing along the border.

Officials have argued that the Biden administration is focusing on increasing aid to Western Hemisphere countries hosting Venezuelan immigrants, including Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica, and expanding refugee resettlement to include those displaced in the region.

In addition to these efforts, the department says it is in the process of finalizing the asylum procedure so cases can be heard faster.

Immigrant movement within the United States

In recent weeks, the movement of immigrants within the United States has caught the country’s attention, as have Republican governors Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott. Send immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard And to the residence of Vice President Kamala Harris, a measure the White House called a “cruel and deliberate political ploy.”

Jean-Pierre accused the governors of Florida and Texas of using immigrants as “political pawns” and called their actions “shameful … reckless and utterly wrong.”

Meanwhile, Biden slammed the state’s Republican officials who sent immigrants north this year to protest his administration’s immigration policies, accusing them of “doing politics with humans.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sent two planes carrying immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard Wednesday night, his office said.

For his part, Texas Governor Greg Abbott confirmed that his state intentionally sent two buses of immigrants to Harris’ residence in the nation’s capital and they arrived Thursday morning.

The actions by state governors — both staunch critics of the Biden administration — are the latest in a series of moves by Republican governors to move immigrants into liberal cities and states to protest what they say are inadequate federal border security efforts.

— With a report from Kate Sullivan and Priscilla Alvarez on CNN.