Jan. 5 (UPI) — President Joe Biden said Thursday his administration will roll out a new southern border security plan that offers a “parole” program for immigrants from certain countries under peril while using the Trump-era Title 42 expulsions. Biden said migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, who meet certain criteria will be welcomed into the humanitarian program, accepting up to 30,000 per month. He said Mexico has agreed to accept them.
He said those who cross unlawfully into Panama or Mexico will be also deemed ineligible for the program, in an attempt to discourage people from taking the dangerous journey.
Biden said the new parole program, which allows migrants to initially apply by using a smartphone app, had dramatically slowed the flow of Venezuelans trying to cross the border.
Biden will visit El Paso, Texas on Sunday, a border city that has been so swamped with immigrants that Mayor Oscar Leeser declared a state of emergency last month.
Biden made the comments days before he is expected to inspect the southern U.S.-Mexico border while attending the North American Leaders’ Summit in Mexico City on Monday and Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the White House’s efforts to ditch the Trump-era immigration policy Title 42, which allows authorities to quickly dispel asylum-seekers at the border.
In brief remarks to reporters on Wednesday evening after returning to the White House from Kentucky and Ohio, Biden said he wanted “peace and security” at the border, foreshadowing his comments on Thursday.
Republicans used border security as one of the main campaign issues against Biden and the Democrats during the midterm elections. They are expected to continue to make that issue as long as the numbers of those seeking asylum at the southern border remain high.
“I’m pleased President Biden will finally visit our southern border — which has been completely surrendered to the cartels, smugglers, and human traffickers,” Sen. Lindsey Graham said in a Twitter post on Wednesday. “President Biden must go to our southern border and act swiftly to fix the crisis he created.”
Drug trafficking and immigration will likely be two of the main topics of discussion at the summit.
