Asylum Seekers Continue to Wait in Mexico Due to Delays to U.S. Entry
Laundry dries at a camp for asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border on February 22, 2021 in Matamoros, Mexico. U.S. immigration authorities have begun allowing some asylum seekers with active cases into the U.S. in a reversal of the Trump administration’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ immigration policy. John Moore/Getty Images

The United States on Monday abruptly canceled plans to bring asylum seekers into Texas at two ports of entry, resulting in hopes of quick U.S. entry fading for hundreds of immigrants waiting for months in Mexico under a Trump-era policy that President Joe Biden promised to rescind.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it could not continue its operations due to "given current operational considerations." According to a Reuters report, it could no longer tell when it would start bringing in migrants at the two locations.

Last week, the department said it would start accepting asylum seekers with active cases through ports in Brownsville and El Paso, Texas on Monday and Friday, respectively.

Texas is still recovering from a winter storm that caused power outages and disrupted water services across the state. A DHS spokeswoman did not give specifically comment on the said delay.

Asylum Seekers Stuck in Mexico

Biden has promised to retract the Trump administration program, known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), which caused more than 65,000 mostly Central American asylum seekers to step back across the border pending immigration court hearings in the U.S.

Most returned home. However, some stayed in Mexico even in sometimes dangerous conditions that make them vulnerable to kidnapping and other violence, according to an Aljazeera report.

Josue Cornejo, a migrant from Honduras, was one of the many stuck in a makeshift camp in Matamoros, Mexico, for more than a year. Cornejo said that they are really confused as they do not see any change.

"They aren't telling us anything," Cornejo said in the report.

U.S. officials noted that anyone who seeks to enter the U.S. and does not have an active MPP case would be ultimately expelled under the COVID-19 accordance rules.

The Biden administration said it would initially deal with around 25,000 people with active cases, with the United Nations (UN) setting up a website for people to register. More than 7,700 migrants with active cases since Friday have already registered, according to a UN official.

Biden Immigration Reforms

Biden recently unveiled a major immigration overhaul that would offer an eight-year pathway to citizenship to around 11 million people in the United States without legal status, according to another Aljazeera report.

The said legislation will show broad priorities for immigration reform the Biden put out on his first day in office. It includes increasing visas, funding to process asylum applications, and new technology at the southern border.

The bill would immediately provide green cards to specific people, including farmworkers and people who came to the U.S. as undocumented children.

For those living in the U.S. as of Jan. 1, 2021, the plan creates a five-year path to a temporary legal status once they pass background checks, pay taxes, and fulfill other basic requirements. After three years, they can pursue citizenship.

Although Biden is pursuing a comprehensive bill, he suggested that he is open to a more piecemeal approach. Biden said that a pathway to citizenship is essential in any immigration bill. However, he noted that there are things that he would deal with by itself that could leave the door open to standalone bills.

Meanwhile, congressional Democrats are not talking all-or-nothing either.

"Even though I support full, comprehensive immigration reform, I'm ready to move on piecemeal, because I don't want to end up with good intentions on my hands and not have anything," Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar said in the report.