Biden announces new measures against illegal US immigration

These measures will make it easier for border authorities to quickly expel migrants entering the United States in areas between border points, as well as bring into force bilateral agreements where potential asylum seekers passing through a third country should prove that they were not given adequate protections in that country before seeking asylum at the US-Mex border.

However, individuals from the four countries mentioned above will be allowed to apply for legal entry into the United States, given the authorisation for humanitarian forgiveness, which is currently being exercised to admit some refugees from Afghanistan and Ukraine into the US.

Administration officials have presented this plan as a legal route to allow immigrants to travel to the United States in a orderly and secure manner. But immigration activists have countered that these policies unfairly limit protections for asylum guaranteed in American and international law.

Migrants gathering on the Mexican border in El Paso, Texas
During the White House press conference, President Biden said the move for humanitarian forgiveness would allow immigrants from Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti, who have US residence financial sponsors, to enter the country legally through a programme that was drafted under programmes to forgive the Venezuelans and Ukrainians. These programs allow immigrants to travel on the air route to the United States, if they have a sponsor, and if they pass history checks.

These measures I'm announcing today are not going to fix our immigration system, but they can be very helpful... I can only act where I have the legal capacity to do so”, President Biden said.

According to authorisation for humanitarian pardon, applicants approved are allowed to live and work legally in the United States on temporary grounds. / VOA