Biden delegates decision on asylum-seekers entering the U.S. to NGOs, easing border shutdown

AP Photo/Julio Cortez

Joe Biden is looking for a way to open up the U.S.-Mexico border after the coronavirus pandemic essentially shut the border down for more than a year. Thanks to Title 42, Trump was able to secure the southern border as a tool in mitigating the pandemic from spreading. Biden long ago shed his pretense of being a moderate Democrat and is fully invested with open borders policies, mostly to own Trump. Now there’s a new twist in Biden’s methods.

Advertisement

We know that Biden handed off the crisis he caused at the southern border to his vice-president in order to help boost her political portfolio. She’ll likely be running for president in 2024 and she has no foreign policy experience. Biden declared her as his border czar and she has ghosted the border states dealing with the Biden border crisis ever since. She still hasn’t even bothered to make a trip to the border to see for herself what is going on every day. Now, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal, we are learning that the Biden administration has further delegated the task of managing the flood of illegal migrants seeking asylum crossing to non-governmental organizations (NGOs). NGOs are being allowed to decide who is and isn’t allowed to seek asylum according to their level of vulnerability if they are sent home.

Groups like the ACLU and other aid groups who have sued the government over border policies are working in coordination with the NGOs on decision-making responsibilities. This is further proof of dereliction of duty shown by Team Biden. Why isn’t DHS out in front of the process, as is that agency’s job? It sounds as though the federal government has tossed off its responsibilities to maintain order and security at the southern border and is allowing the ACLU to decide who is eligible for asylum in the U.S. DHS calls this “streamlining” the process.

The nongovernmental organizations have been largely left to rely on their own judgment to decide who should get exceptions to enter the U.S. because they are among the most vulnerable. The American government has said priority should be given to families and those who are vulnerable for reasons such as medical needs, LGBTQ status or having been targeted by criminal groups.

“There’s no question that an exemption process that asks NGOs to rank families by how desperate they are is going to ultimately be arbitrary and depend on who they encounter,” said Lee Gelernt, an immigration attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union.

The exceptions are being made under agreements with the ACLU and numerous aid groups that have sued the government over its border policies.

The Department of Homeland Security said the administration is working to streamline a system for identifying and processing particularly vulnerable individuals.

Advertisement

DHS refused to answer questions about this story but did say that “This is done in close coordination with international and nongovernmental organizations in Mexico and includes Covid-19 testing.” The Biden administration promised to be the most transparent -evah- yet here is another area we are learning about that hasn’t officially been disclosed. The border crisis management has gone from Biden to Kamala, to DHS, to NGOs, and the ACLU? Apparently so.

It is reported that hundreds of people are being admitted to the U.S. each day under this new plan. There are thousands of Northern Triangle migrants in Mexican towns on the border who are waiting to have their chance to cross, too. For many of them, there is confusion thanks to the changing policies. The Remain in Mexico policy of the Trump administration was very effective in controlling the border but Biden put a halt to that on his first day in office.

“There’s not a lot of information,” said Isidro Matamoros Baquedano, 64 years old, a Honduran national who arrived in Tijuana with his nephew a few weeks ago. He heard some people were being allowed to cross the border, he said, but he isn’t sure whom to contact to try to join them. Like many migrants here hoping to enter the U.S., he and his nephew are living in a crowded border plaza filled with tents.

The trope presented by Biden, Kamala, and DHS is that the border is closed and that most of the migrants are being sent back to their home country, except for the unaccompanied minors who cross the border and wait to be picked up by Border Patrol officers. The border is porous and law enforcement is overwhelmed. Texas and Arizona have asked for other states to lend personnel and resources if they can do so. This latest move shows that Biden doesn’t really intend to continue removing migrants, he’s looking for approval from NGOs to allow more people in with claims of asylum. All migrant families who cross the border legally to request asylum are allowed to wait in the U.S. until their case is processed, which often takes several years. Illegal migrants are being trained to ask for asylum whether they qualify or not by coyotes and human traffickers. The system is being exploited and it has only worsened under Biden’s policies.

Advertisement

NGOs are spreading the word on the internet. Online portals have been set up for migrants to sign up and give the reason for their asylum requests. Special interest aid groups like Al Otro Lado, a binational aid group, work with the ACLU to grant entry to the U.S. In Tijuana, for example, more than 10,000 people have asked Al Otro Lado for assistance. So far 1,500 requests have been processed and hundreds have been allowed to cross the border. Flyers are being used to deliver information of the group’s online portal in Mexican border communities.

This is Team Biden at work. They don’t want to admit failures in policy decisions – particularly those made mostly to spite Trump’s administration – so they just pass the problems further down the line. What could go wrong?

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement