Mexico will continue taking Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans rejected from the US border when Title 42 expires next week, according to an announcement by the Mexican government.
The landmark agreement was announced nine days before the end of Title 42, the federal pandemic era policy which allows US Border Patrol to kick out migrants to Mexico without hearing their asylum claims.
The move will come as a blow to migrants who have been camped out on the Mexican side of the border awaiting the expiration of Title 42 as they felt it would mean they could freely cross into the US.
As part of the deal, Mexico has agreed to continue taking 30,000 migrants a month from each of the four countries.
The US has trouble deporting many migrants to those countries because of its troubled, and in some cases non-existent, diplomatic relations with them according to a press release issued by Mexican officials.
It’s up to Mexico to accept citizens from countries other than their own ejected from the US.
“At no point in US history has there ever been another country which would take large numbers of deportations from the US of people who aren’t nationals of that country”, Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council tweeted.
In exchange, Washington will continue to allow 30,000 migrants a month from the same countries through the humanitarian parole program that has been created for them, which started in January.
In order to qualify, migrants must apply online, have a sponsor in the US and cannot cross into the country illegally.
However, migrants who talked to The Post last month said they tried to use the app set up to apply online but it had failed, then turned themselves in at the border without meeting the requirements and still been admitted.
Maria Jose, of Venezuela, said: “It’s a thing of luck. You see single men get through or single women, then a family with kids will get expelled”.
The Biden Administration has also agreed to allow up to 100,000 migrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador into the US through a newly-announced family reunification parole process.
The pact forged with America’s southern neighbor would give the US a powerful tool to deter asylum-seekers from those countries from crossing the border illegally, with the threat that they would be returned south of the border.
However, when Title 42 ends, the US could see as many as 13,000 migrants cross the international boundary a day, according to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
It is unclear what will happen after 30,000 migrants have been sent back to Mexico in a month if more continue to cross over into the US.
Many asylum-seekers who had been waiting in Mexico for weeks or months have already started to trickle into the US, overwhelming border cities from San Diego, California on the West Coast to Brownsville, Texas — the most easterly point of the southern border with Mexico.
The crush of migrants expected at the border prompted President Joe Biden to send 1,500 active-duty soldiers to the border to assist federal immigration agents.
“We need all the help we can get”, Former El Paso Mayor Dee Margo told The Post Tuesday.
The West Texas city is currently ground zero for the border crisis and declared an emergency ahead of Title 42 ending May 11, as over 1,000 people a day hand themselves into authorities.
“The manpower for ‘US Customs and Border Protection’ is insufficient”, Margo added. “They’re recognizing that they’re going to need this”.