Is the Biden Administration like th eone before it discriminating against Black migrants?
By Mona Austin
BACK STORY: The Biden Administration has set the refugee cap for humanitarian entry to the U.S. for fiscal year 2022 at 125,000. This number sends a clear message to Haitains- the largest contingent of asylum seekers stuck in Siouthern Mexico hoping to get to the United States -- that their chances are slim. That has not stopped them or others from making the attempt. Recent reports shed light on a developing crisis at another border, the origin of the pile up at the Texas border as well as also exposes discrimination against Black immigrants. . .
The Southern border of the US is a North star for Haitians pressing toward the land of opportunity. On their way, another border is crossed from Central America into Mexico. There, they along with Guatemalans and Central Americans, are in limbo. Displaced Haitians are stuck in Tapachula, Mexico the Southenmost town in the country, with no place to go and few options for survival.
A colleague who traveled to the Guatemala/ Mexico border tells me he saw more of a concentration of Haitian immigrants in Tapachula-- numbering in the thousands. They wander around the city sqaure seeking work after coming up from South America where jobs have dried up. Their destination is the U.S./Texas Border where they can apply for asylum. Some make it to that point. Most don't. Locals are charging $1.50 for them to cross the Suchiate River that lies between Central America and Mexico to nowhere.
A report from Reuters indicated these groups are not being allowed to pass through and are left sleeping outdoors in make shift areas similar to those that cropped up in Texas. Locals are not laying out the welcome mat. There have been protests from the migrants agaisnt claims that they are theives. They say they are "international workers." Should they decide to stay in Mexico the prospect of making it out of poverty is grim.
Advocates and social service groups have stepped in to help where there is a void in the immigration infrastructure.
The Center for Human Dignity, an advocacy group for immigrants has been keeping track of the influx, providing some sense of why they keep coming despite the circunstances. “The perception is that the Biden Administration will favor the entry of Haitians into the United States. They are trying to make their way to the U.S. at any cost. This is what we have seen in the last few months,” Director Villagran Garcia said. He said they would have come over sooner but for being intimdated by former Pres. Donald Trump's policies.
The Biden Administration does not have an open invitation for immigrants and is also exercising "unfriendly" policies. When Vice Pres. Kamala Harris visited Mexico in the Spring she bluntly told immigrants, "Do not come" reminding them that we are still in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic. When news reports illustrated the growing crisis at the border, protecting Americans during the health crisis became the main reason leveraged for not allowing Haitian Nationals to apply for asylum. Title 42, a clause in the 1944 Public Health Services Law, is being used to keep the numbers down. Critics say that the Biden Adminsitration justified their rapid dismissal of Haitians using this Trump era practice that blocks entry during a national health situation, to expel Haitians at a rate that is disproportinate to other races is illegal as anyone can seek asylum at the border. According to ABC News Olga Burne, Director fo the INternational Rescue Mission said, "The legal issue at hand [with the use of Title 42] is that there's nothing in the law that allows the government to expel [migrants] without any due process."
Panama Authorities warned the U.S. that more would come -- that is if they can get past the bottle neck that has kept many stranded. Tapachula has been unwilling to help them move on or provide any real assitance while they are there some activists have surmised. With the U.S. and Mexico's government cracking down on border crossings if these rejected voyagers reach their destination they will have "one more river to cross."
Their chances of actually ever calling the US home seems slim. . .
In latest developments related to the intake process, the White House says that migrants are currently being bused in and processed at the appropriate facilities. If asylum-seekers do not fit the right criteria they will be sent back to their country they said. If they pass the screening and meet the requirements they are being allowed to wait to be processed. This is a contrast to the migrant caravan that was covered two years ago in that this time there are mainly Haitians who are facing intense discrimination -- revealing a Black immigration crisis. Haitians are being deported back to a disaster are at a rate of 4 to 1. Washington is pressuring Mexico to manage the overwhelming migrant flow while sticking to their own less than ideal system.
Meanwhile, the track Northward continues to be dangerous with reports of rape, kidnappings, corruption and migrant murders.
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