On December 28, local time, CBS, citing preliminary statistics from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, reported that as of December 27, U.S. Border Patrol agents had detained more than 225,000 immigrants who illegally crossed the southern border of the United States that month, breaking the record for the number of detainees set in May 2022.
Currently, the U.S. federal government has closed ports of entry in several states and deployed additional staff to transport and process illegal immigration.
△ Screenshot of CBS website report
"It's more humane to throw money at people than to spend money on building walls"
The problem of illegal immigration in the southern border of the United States has been pushed to the forefront again in recent days.
On December 18, local time, Texas Governor Abbott signed a bill to criminalize immigrants illegally crossing the border into Texas. The new law, which gives local law enforcement the power to arrest illegal immigrants and gives judges the power to issue orders to deport illegal immigrants to Mexico, is expected to go into effect in March next year.
△ Screenshot of the report on the Texas Forum website (the title picture is Texas Governor Abbott)
As the last stop for illegal immigrants to the United States, Mexico has been actively cooperating with the United States in recent years to take measures to prevent migrants from congregating in border areas.
The United States last week temporarily closed two rail crossings in El Paso and Eagle Pass, Texas, in an effort to stop illegal immigrants from smuggling into the country by pickpocketing trains, which has had a significant impact on Mexican exports to the United States.
△ The Washington Post website reported: According to data from the Union Pacific Railroad, the two ports temporarily closed in the United States account for 45% of the cross-border rail trade between the United States and Mexico.
On December 27, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Mexico to find a solution to the unprecedented pressure on the United States from the wave of illegal immigration.
Mexican President Andrés López López López, who had spoken to U.S. President Joe Biden on December 20, called on the U.S. to spend money on helping people in Latin America and the Caribbean lift out of poverty, rather than building barbed wire and a separation wall, which is a "more effective and humane" measure.
△ Screenshot of the report on the website of Singapore's "Straits Times".
The issue of immigration has become one of the main issues of bipartisan struggle
The long-term struggle between the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States over the social issue of illegal immigration has made it difficult for the United States to introduce a continuous and stable legal and policy system. The so-called illegal immigration problem is nothing more than a bargaining chip for both parties in the United States to win elections and earn personal political gains.
Elliott Spagart, a reporter for the Associated Press, pointed out that the United States will hold a presidential election next year, and the wave of illegal immigration will be the main political issue. Republicans are demanding that the White House tighten its policies, curb the flow of illegal immigrants and use aid to Ukraine as a bargaining chip. The White House said that comprehensive immigration reform and funding still depend on Congress. Bipartisan consensus on this sensitive issue is highly unlikely.
△ Elliott Spagatt
Since last year, out of partisan and local interests, Republican-run states such as Texas and Florida in the United States have transferred a large number of immigrants from the southern region to New York and other Democrat-run cities, claiming to use this law to force the Biden administration to find a way to solve the border problem.
This move really made the opponent taste the bitterness. According to the New York Times, New York City has processed 161,500 asylum applications and accepted 68,000 immigrants since the spring of 2022, and the government's resources are beginning to be stretched thin.
On December 27, local time, New York Mayor Eric Adams issued an executive order to restrict the way illegal immigrants can arrive in New York for the first time, and opposed the Texas governor to continue to send tens of thousands of illegal immigrants seeking asylum to New York City.
△ Screenshot of CBS program
The new executive order requires charter companies transporting illegal immigrants to give 32 hours' notice before arriving in New York City and limits the number of illegal immigrants that New York can admit each day. Companies that violate the executive order will face charges, with individuals potentially being jailed up to three months in prison and a $500 fine, companies will be fined $2,000, and buses that violate the order may also be impounded by the police department.
△ New York Times website: The day after the mayor of New York issued an executive order, buses arrived in violation of regulations.
The United States' immigration and foreign policies have seriously undermined the right to subsistence and development of the people of Latin America and the Caribbean, forcing them to leave their homeland "in search of a better life."
But for many refugees, the journey to the United States is a nightmare.
On December 27, local time, three passenger planes carrying repatriated illegal immigrants arrived in Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala, from Texas, USA, and 130 of the more than 370 illegal immigrants on board were minors.
Max Mansilia, who was repatriated, said: "Some people told us that the United States would help us, but that was a clear lie. We were subjected to severe abuse when we arrived in the United States, and we were put in prison-like places. I promise never to return to the U.S. again. We suffered a lot, experienced low temperatures, hunger and thirst on the train. ”
Zhang Tengjun, deputy director of the Asia-Pacific Institute of the China Institute of International Studies, pointed out that for a long time, the United States has pursued the "Monroe Doctrine," regarded Latin America and the Caribbean as its "backyard," bullied regional countries for a long time, and frequently imposed unilateral sanctions, armed intervention, and even military invasion on regional countries, seriously undermining the normal order of economic and social development of regional countries, and plunging many countries into turmoil and even civil strife for a long time, resulting in a large number of illegal immigrants flocking to the United States.