The year 2023 begins with a thorny issue for Joe Biden: immigration.
For the first time since the beginning of his mandate, two years ago, the American president moved to the border with Mexico, Sunday January 8, in the Texas city of El Paso, one of the largest gateways for migrants to the United States.
Welcomed by the governor of the state, the very conservative Greg Abbott, he met border police officers there, visited a reception center for migrants before going to the huge bridge that connects the city to its Mexican twin, Juarez.
That same evening, he flew to Mexico City to attend a summit with his Mexican counterpart Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
And here again, the migration issue had to be at the center of the discussions.
Before this unprecedented trip, the White House had already announced new measures on the subject on Thursday.
Up to 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela – among the main nationalities to cross the Mexican border daily – will be allowed to enter the United States each month.
However, the latter must meet several conditions: must arrive by plane, "so as not to add a workload to the border guards on the ground" according to the executive, and be financially sponsored by a person already living in the United States.
These thousands of authorized migrants will be able to stay in the United States for two years and receive a work permit.
On the other hand, those who cross the border illegally will be immediately turned back and will be prohibited from entering the territory for five years.
At the same time, Washington wants to launch a mobile application on which migrants will have to register to have a chance to cross the border legally.
One way, according to Washington, to fight more effectively against illegal networks of smugglers.
“Do not come to the border” without having previously launched a legal procedure, thus summed up Joe Biden.
A subject absent for two years
"So many trips and announcements that show that Joe Biden wants to tackle this burning issue again", analyzes Jean-Éric Branaa, specialist in the United States and lecturer at the University of Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas.
Upon his arrival at the White House, the Democratic president announced that he wanted to implement a profound immigration reform.
"America is safer, stronger and more prosperous with a healthy and humane migration system that welcomes migrants and allows them to contribute to the progress of our country," he argued.
He had also set the tone from the day of his inauguration, January 20, 2021, by suspending the construction of the wall on the Mexican border and by lifting the ban on entry to American soil for nationals of predominantly Muslim countries. - two key measures of his predecessor Donald Trump.
But since then, apart from a decree attacking the separation of families at the border, the president has remained very silent on the issue, delegating it mainly to his vice-president Kamala Harris.
"For good reason, it is certainly one of the most perilous questions for the president: it is strongly exploited by his opponents from the Republican Party and it is very sensitive to public opinion", explains the specialist.
"And in a context marked by an economic crisis, galloping inflation and the Covid-19 crisis, he will have preferred to focus on domestic policy issues."
The subject is all the more sensitive since since his election, migrants have never been so numerous to try their luck in the United States.
About 2.15 million illegal migrants were arrested at the Mexican border in 2022 according to statistics published in September by the border police, compared to 1.7 million in 2021. And 27% of these arrests concerned migrants who had already attempted several times to cross the border in the last twelve months.
In November alone, 230,000 arrests were recorded.
"Faced with this observation, the migration crisis was one of the great levers of the Republicans during the campaign for the mid-term elections. They regularly accused the Democratic camp of being responsible for the situation. We remember these elected officials who sent convoys of thousands of migrants to Democratic cities last spring …”, abounds Olivier Richomme, specialist in the United States and professor at the University of Lyon II.
>> To read also. United States: Republican states send migrant buses to Democratic cities
A step towards the Republicans "to avoid blocking"
Coming out of his silence on January 5, Joe Biden however attracted, this time, the wrath of his own camp and associations for the defense of immigrants.
The main reason: contrary to their expectations, the American president seems to be preserving the "Title 42" device.
This decree, put in place by Donald Trump at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, allows migrants to be driven back to the border in the name of the risk of spreading the disease – an immediate measure, which does not provide for legal recourse.
"For many of us who work in immigration, we were hoping that the Biden administration would sign off on 'Title 42' and restore asylum.
It's a disappointment," said Alex Miller, campaign director for the Immigration Council's Campaign, to The Guardian.
"With these measures, access to asylum will be limited to people who have the right nationalities, who have the means and the right support...", he adds.
"And the mandatory use of a mobile application risks making the procedure even more difficult for all migrants who do not have access to digital tools or who do not speak English or Spanish."
"It's racist and classist", denounces for its part United We Dream, an association carried by young migrants.
"This retention of 'Title 42' will hurt the very people the government says it wants to protect."
"We must not forget that, since the beginning of his presidency, Joe Biden has been systematically hampered by Congress on all issues related to immigration", nuance Jean-Éric Branaa.
“Admittedly, 30,000 people per month is low compared to the number that shows up at the border every day, but it is already a step in the right direction. By proposing these half-hearted measures, Joe Biden is playing at the tightrope walker. He takes a step towards the Republicans and hopes to circumvent the blockages."
"These announcements also come at a time when 'Title 42' is at the heart of a legal battle: the Supreme Court decided at the end of December to postpone its decision on whether or not to maintain it", continues Olivier Richomme.
"However, the Republicans continue to brandish the threat that a sudden lifting of this device would lead to a massive influx at the borders."
Initially, the "Title 42" was to be suspended on December 21.
The date was postponed in the face of appeals from around twenty conservative states.
"Donald Trump's only policy was to close the borders to migration. Joe Biden, on the other hand, admits that there is a humanitarian crisis. But he plays on a subtle position, which aims to say: 'We know that this crisis exists and we are going to manage it in the most reasoned way possible”, summarizes the specialist.
The "Dreamers" in the line of sight
According to Jean-Éric Braana, Joe Biden hopes to make the Republicans falter in his favor on another migration file, that of the "Dreamers", these hundreds of thousands of children of migrants often born in the United States of parents in an irregular situation.
"Since the Obama administration, these minors, who often only know the United States and no longer have relatives in their country of origin, have benefited from a temporary status that allowed them to study and work. Joe Biden has promised to give them permanent status and pave the way for them to citizenship,” he explains.
"By agreeing to get tough on illegal immigration, he certainly hopes to
Finally, in Mexico, on Monday, Joe Biden will have to tackle another project: strengthening cooperation with his neighbors on this migration issue.
If Mexico City has already agreed to welcome 30,000 people a month in the opposite direction, expelled from the United States because they are in irregular condition, the task could still be difficult.
The President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had decided to shun the last summit of the Americas, organized in Los Angeles last June, which displayed precisely this objective of harmonizing the fight against illegal immigration between the United States and Latin America.
For good reason, Washington had refused to extend an invitation to three other major countries in this question: Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
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