China News Service, January 6 (Xinhua) according to the US political news website Politico, on the 5th local time, US President Biden delivered a rare public speech on the border issue, announcing a new policy to curb illegal border crossings.
Under the new policy, the United States will ban more immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela from crossing the border to seek asylum, while cracking down on those who enter illegally.
Data map: US President Biden.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Chen Mengtong
On the 5th local time, Biden announced a new humanitarian "parole" plan for immigrants from the four countries of Nicaragua, Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.
Under the new policy, the Biden administration will send up to 30,000 migrants from each of the four countries back to Mexico each month, while allowing 30,000 asylum seekers from each country to live and work legally in the United States.
Those accepted through the application process must demonstrate that they have a sponsor in the United States.
"Don't show up at the border. Stay where you are and apply legally," Biden said of potential immigrants from those countries.
"Starting today, if you don't apply through the legal process, you will not be eligible for this new 'parole' scheme."
Biden also said, "The actions we announced today will make things better, but they will not completely solve the border problem. There is more to do."
The US media pointed out that the number of immigrants and asylum seekers arriving at the US-Mexico border continued to set records, which brought a humanitarian crisis, logistical problems and political nightmares to Biden.
U.S. border officials experienced an average of more than 8,000 border crossings per day in December, according to a senior administration official.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States has begun to expel immigrants quickly through restrictions known as "Section 42" immigration deportation orders, which have prevented more than 1.4 million people from crossing the border.
Citizens of Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela and Nicaragua, however, are exempt from the order, in part because their countries, as well as Mexico, refuse to accept them.
On the occasion of announcing the new immigration policy, Biden will visit the US-Mexico border for the first time in the border city of El Paso, Texas on the 8th local time, and then go to Mexico to participate in the US-Canada-Mexico summit.
The border crisis is expected to top the summit agenda.