Two years ago, Joe Biden actively criticized Donald Trump's immigration policies. "Cruelty and exclusion" is how Biden described them in his presidential campaign, including those affecting Venezuelans fleeing Maduro's regime.
However, immigration remains a problem in the country and, just a few weeks before the midterm elections, Biden has changed his mind, as reported by AP. Last week, he re-invoked one of Trump's measures: Title 42, a rule that prohibits fleeing Venezuelans from seeking asylum in the United States. The rule was being appealed by the Department of Justice itself, and a judge prohibited it from being overturned.
How does Title 42 work?
The rule, which Trump instituted in 2020, banned foreigners from entering the United States due to the spread of COVID-19. However, with the pandemic over, Biden has had to look for another motive.
The president has decided to reject Venezuelans arriving across the southern border of the United States. In addition, any Venezuelan resident who enters Mexico or Panama illegally will not be eligible for a U.S. residency permit. This, however, does not include those who arrive through U.S. airports. Up to 24,000 Venezuelans who arrive by plane will be able to apply for U.S. residency permits as refugees. This policy resembles many worldwide asylum regulations concerning Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion last February.
Biden's exception follows an express request from Mexico on the basis of humanitarian reasons. Mexico wants the United States to permit entry of one Venezuelan for every Venezuelan it expels to Mexico. In other words, if the United States turns away 24,000 Venezuelans coming on foot or by caravan from Mexico, it must admit the same number of asylum-seekers through some other means.
The policy is already generating criticism in certain sectors: "Instead of restoring asylum rights decimated by the Trump Administration.... the Biden Administration has dangerously embraced the failures of the past and expanded on them by explicitly allowing expulsions of Venezuelan migrants," said Jennifer Nagda, policy director of the Youth Center for Immigrant Children's Rights as reported by El Nuevo Herald. However, the Biden Administration decided to institute Title 42 with the objective of ensuring a "legal and orderly" manner for Venezuelans to enter the United States. Ironically, he is now enacting one of the rules he criticized most during Trump's presidency.
