Biden Vows to Add Feds at Border, Boost Efforts to Reduce Crossings – By Eric Katz (Defense One) / Jan 5, 2023
The administration will also expand humanitarian programs, though staffing shortfalls could hurt implementation.
President Biden on Thursday announced his administration will once surge federal employees and other resources to the border as it ramps up its efforts to crack down on unlawful migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border, pairing the new policies with additional pathways for legal migration.
In announcing his plan, Biden blasted Republicans for standing in the way of additional hiring of border personnel even as he pledged to deploy more to confront the rising number of migrants. Biden had requested an appropriation of $3.5 billion to address the border situation to support the hiring of 2,000 asylum officers and 100 immigration judges, but instead Congress provided a one-time jolt of $1.6 billion that placed restrictions on permanent hires.
Biden said the policy known as Title 42 will expand to include Cubans, Nicaraguans and Haitians. The Trump administration first implemented the restrictive initiative during the COVID-19 outbreak to immediately expel many undocumented migrants arriving at the border without considering them for asylum, though migrants from several countries were exempt because the United States has limited diplomatic relationships with their governments. Biden will couple the ramped up security efforts with expanded legal immigration for individuals from those countries, offering entry to certain individuals with a U.S. sponsor through a program known as humanitarian parole.
