Arizona Governor Doug Ducey demanded on Tuesday that the administration of President Joe Biden take more action to protect the U.S.-Mexico border, while local authorities in Yuma reported an increase in crossings of asylum seekers in the southwest of the state. .
As Ducey and local authorities spoke at a lectern on the border near Yuma, about a dozen people crossed into US territory through a gap in the border fence behind them, according to a video posted on Twitter by a reporter from the US. KPNX television. In a live broadcast of the press conference it can be seen that several people wearing masks were walking and watching from a short distance behind the governor, the mayor of Yuma, the local police chief and others, and under the surveillance of staff. of security.
“We need the strength of the federal government to protect the border,” Ducey told reporters. “That is their job. We ask the Biden government to do so. ”
Ducey criticized the Biden administration for re-implementing former President Donald Trump’s policy that requires asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while they await the date of their hearings in US immigration courts. Last week, the federal government reluctantly announced plans to reinstate the policy implemented during the Trump presidency and accepted Mexico’s conditions to resume its application.
The policy went back into effect Monday in El Paso, Texas. Ducey said the gradual implementation prompted migrants to head quickly to other parts of the border and cross into the United States before politics is hit widely again.
More than 1,500 migrants crossed the border illegally Monday, overtaking Border Patrol agents from the Yuma sector, the Yuma Sun newspaper reported. Several people clustered on the American side and waited to be detained to make their asylum claims. Most of the migrants come from Cuba, Brazil and Venezuela, according to the newspaper.
Ducey said the Arizona National Guard will send a helicopter, six vehicles, four ATVs and 24 people to assist authorities.
The Republican governor has been an assiduous critic of Biden’s border policies. The Republican Party sees the increase in border crossings as an important issue to attack Biden and other Democrats in the 2022 parliamentary elections.
“As things are right now, this crisis will not be resolved while Joe Biden is our president,” Ducey said.
The reinstatement of the “Remain in Mexico” policy comes as the Biden administration tries to end the measure in a way that survives legal scrutiny. Biden withdrew the policy on his first day in office, but a lawsuit by Texas and Missouri forced him to re-implement it, provided Mexico agreed.
Unauthorized border crossings fell significantly after Mexico, faced with Trump’s threat to raise tariffs, consented to the rapid expansion of the policy. Asylum seekers were victims of serious acts of violence while waiting in Mexico and faced a number of legal obstacles, such as access to lawyers and information on their cases.
Last week, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki described the policy as “deeply flawed” but noted that the government is working to implement it under the court order.
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