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OPINION
Immigration
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'I CAN’T GO BACK. THE US IS MY ONLY OPTION': WHY BIDEN'S BORDER POLICY ISN'T
WORKING


REFUGEES INTERNATIONAL'S INTERVIEWS WITH MIGRANTS SUGGEST THAT ANY EFFECT OF
U.S. POLICY ON BORDER CROSSINGS IS, AT BEST, TEMPORARILY KEEPING THEM AWAY BUT
NOT REDUCING THEIR OVERALL NUMBERS.

Yael Schacher and Rachel Schmidtke
Opinion contributors


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The Biden administration has been touting the success of its latest border
policy in reducing the number of asylum seekers crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
This is not just premature but politically unwise.

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has an opportunity to chart a
different course ‒ one that maintains an orderly border while also dealing
fairly and humanely with the reality of increased global displacement.

Recent research by Refugees International near the Darien Gap, the remote
roadless crossing between Colombia and Panama, and at the U.S. border makes
clear that the drop in border encounters does not reflect decreased migration in
search of safety. And that’s unlikely to change any time soon.



Take President Nicolas Maduro’s suspicious claim of victory in Venezuela's
elections last month. If it holds and repression continues, more Venezuelans
will likely flee. A nationwide poll found that a fourth of the people
are thinking about migrating, according to The Associated Press: "Of those
thinking about leaving Venezuela, about 47% said an electoral win by the
opposition would make them stay."

An increase in Venezuelan migration could have a big impact given that the
majority of people making the crossing through the Darien Gap already are
Venezuelan ‒ and many coming directly from Venezuela. 


WHAT'S REALLY BEHIND THE DROP IN BORDER PATROL ENCOUNTERS?



To meaningfully address these challenges, the United States should adopt an
approach that affirms rather than ignores the fact that people will arrive at
the border and need a fair and orderly way to access asylum. 

The most significant impact of the new policy is not a reduction in Border
Patrol encounters with unauthorized crossers but a drop in the number of asylum
seekers referred for fear screenings by Border Patrol agents after crossing ‒ a
drop that doubles the 40% reduction in border encounters that President Joe
Biden proclaimed in June.



Our research makes clear that Border Patrol agents are ignoring assertions of
fear and simply removing asylum seekers to potential grave harm in violation of
U.S. and international refugee law.

As extreme weather dumps on Texas,Gov. Greg Abbott dumps money on racist border
policy instead

Refugees International spoke to one Mexican woman who fled Guerrero with her two
children after her neighbor’s children were kidnapped and killed: “I feared for
my kids, that is why I came, wanting to seek asylum.”



Rather than refer her to a fear screening, she told us, a Border Patrol agent
said she should seek asylum in Mexico. In a grim echo of Trump-era family
separation policies, the agent warned her that her children would be taken from
her if she tried to cross back into the United States ‒ and then removed her to
Mexico without any paperwork or shoes.

Unfortunately, dozens of people have recounted similar experiences to Refugees
International and other border groups. 




DROP IN BORDER PATROL ENCOUNTERS DOESN'T MEAN MIGRANTS AREN'T COMING

The decrease in encounters at the U.S. border is also likely to be temporary ‒
and does not mean that more people are not coming.

First, according to Panama's immigration data, the number of migrants crossing
the Darien Gap in the first five months of this year has already increased from
the same period last year, from nearly 167,000 to more than 170,000 people.



Weather is also a determining factor for when people migrate, and traditionally,
numbers of people decrease during rainy months and tend to start rising in
September when the dry season arrives.

Numbers prove Trump and Abbott wrong:Lies about undocumented immigrants hide the
truth ‒ they pay their share of taxes

Furthermore, Venezuelans are aware of some aspects of U.S. Customs and Border
Protection policy, namely that there is a CBP One app that can be used to apply
for appointments to present at a U.S. land border port of entry.

Recent crossers of the Darien Gap interviewed by Refugees International all said
they intended to wait in central Mexico – not near the U.S. border – for their
appointments. However, as the waiting population in Mexico grows, the United
States has not increased the number of daily available appointments, which have
remained at 1,450 CBP One interviews a day for over a year and is the only way
to access U.S. ports of entry so as to be eligible for asylum. 



Migrants also expressed fear of Mexican authorities, who have increased
enforcement in recent months. It's another contributing factor to lower numbers
reaching the U.S. border. Indeed, the decline in border crossings began before
the latest U.S. policy, when the Mexican government increased its use of
checkpoints and southward-bound buses to keep asylum seekers from the U.S.
border.



Rather than pursue a shortsighted deterrence approach, the United States should
manage increased migration in ways that are orderly and fair. This requires
adopting new approaches to adjudicating asylum claims and to reception of asylum
seekers at the border and in destination cities.

It also means making pathways from Safe Mobility Offices in Colombia, Costa
Rica, Ecuador and Guatemala more accessible to people on the move. Instead of
diverting U.S. aid to pay for repatriations from Panama those migrants planning
on traveling to the United States, that aid should be put toward critical
humanitarian support for migrants that is now lacking in Panama ‒ particularly
for food, health services and care for survivors of sexual violence. 



Our research strongly suggests that any effect of U.S. policy on border
crossings is, at best, temporarily keeping migrants away but not reducing their
overall numbers, their need for protection or their intent to reach the United
States.

Refugees International interviewed a woman who fled Venezuela after her father
was killed by gangs, then again from Colombia after threats from the criminal
Gulf Clan. When asked why she wanted to go to the United States, despite the
treacherous journey on which she had witnessed a child and her mother raped in
the Darien Gap, and after the start of the new border policy, she said, “I can’t
go back. The U.S. is my only option.”

Yael Schacher is the director for the Americas and Europe at Refugees
International. Rachel Schmidtke is the senior advocate for Latin America at
Refugees International.









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