Florida Republican Representatives Mario Díaz-Balart, María Elvira Salazar and Carlos A. Giménez they sent a letter the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, requesting additional information on the Administration’s “New Border Control Measures” and their consequences for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans seeking to enter the United States, as well as for security national of the country
The lawmakers said they were concerned about “the Biden administration’s abrupt and seemingly arbitrary changes to immigration policy and its ramifications,” and that they are therefore requesting information on the anticipated effects of these changes, the manner of their implementation, and the rationale for them. public policy for them.
The new border control measures, announced on January 5, establish that up to 30,000 people per month, from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, who have an eligible sponsor and pass the investigation and background check, can come to the United States for a period of two years and receive work authorization.
In this regard, the Cuban-American congressmen raise the following questions in the letter to Mayorkas:
- Why did the administration impose the arbitrary limit of 30,000? How was that number determined?
- How will this limit be implemented?
- Will the 30,000 be divided equally among the nationals of the four countries?
- If 30,000 are not divided equally, how will that number be divided among the four nationalities?
- Why are only Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans subject to a limit?
- Once the monthly limit is reached, how will the rest of those arriving from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela be attended to? Will this motivate them to stay at the border until next month?
- Will the number of Cuban and Haitian citizens intercepted at sea be considered part of this limit?
- Will there be new political implications for Cuban and Haitian citizens intercepted at sea after this announcement?
In the letter, the lawmakers also raise questions about the fact that the new policy states that those who pass the background check can enter the United States for two years with work authorization.
- How long will the investigation and background check take?
- Will these potential entrants be detained while they await the vetting and background check process?
- How will the administration properly investigate these individuals, when many will not have accurate documents or whose documentation may have been destroyed?
- How will the administration address the current backlog regarding work authorizations for those already in process?
- Will these new opportunities for work authorizations take precedence over those already in process?
- Is this measure available to people who received protection benefits in other countries?
The new border policy also establishes that “individuals who cross the border of Panama, Mexico or the United States irregularly, after the date of this announcement, will not be eligible for the parole process and will be subject to expulsion to Mexico, which will accept the return of 30,000 people per month from these four countries that do not use these new routes”.
On this last point, legislators ask the following:
- How does the administration determine if someone entered “irregularly” under this pronouncement?
- What is the administration’s agreement with Mexico on how people subject to removal will be processed in that country?
- What will happen to those people subject to expulsion once the limit of 30,000 monthly expulsions to Mexico is reached?
- Has Mexico refused to welcome more than 30,000 expelled people?
- Will those who cross “irregularly” once the removal limit of 30,000 is reached, be detained in the United States or removed to a third country?
This Wednesday, the Biden administration reported that the first Cuban citizens have already been approved for the new humanitarian parole program that allows entry to North American soil: “These people will now benefit from legal, safe and orderly migration instead of trying routes irregular and dangerous,” the US Embassy in Havana said on Twitter.
In another message, the diplomatic headquarters reiterated the words of the US president when he announced the measure last Friday: “Do not come to the border. Stay where you are” and complete the online application process.
He also called on migrants to protect their passports and be alert to possible scams related to the implementation of this measure.
These changes in the immigration policy of the United States, the congressmen concluded in their letter, “raise several concerns and unanswered questions” about the consequences for those who seek to enter the country from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, as well as for the national security of the United States.