Biden claims new migrations centres will ease pressure on US-Mexico border
The US government is set to open migration centres in Guatemala and Colombia in an attempt to try and slow down migrants seeking asylum.
The Biden administration hopes to curb the number of people making the trip to the US-Mexico border, a journey that can often be dangerous.
A surge of people is expected as immigration restrictions that date back to the pandemic are due to end on May 11.
The policy includes 'Title 42' which means migrants can be turned away from the border quickly without letting them apply for asylum.
Title 42 has led to more than 2.8million people being expelled from the US.
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Republicans and some Democrats have opposed the Biden administration's intention to end the measures.
The end of Title 42 has Republican border states concerned (AFP via Getty Images)The GOP has attempted to portray the president as soft on matters of immigration, while those who advocated for immigration rights complain the measures are too harsh.
It is not clear if the new centres will actually help to stem the flow of people making the journey north from South and Central America.
More locations in these regions are set to be announced in the coming weeks.
Prospective migrants would be able to go to the centres - which are to be run by international organisations - instead of coming to the border and get information on applying to become a refugee or other immigration options to either the United States or other countries.
More locations in these regions are set to be announced in the coming weeks (Getty Images)Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the changes were made because of a "hemispheric challenge that demands hemispheric solutions".
He added that "our border is not open and not will be open" when the restrictions end.
Republican-leaning states are fighting a legal battle to keep the restrictions in place. They say a potential surge will increase the financial burden on the state for key sectors like education.
Administration officials have said without any other measures in place, they expect the number of migrants encountered at the southern border daily to rise to as much as 13,000 people a day.
The Biden administration hopes to curb the number of people making the trip to the US-Mexico border (Getty Images)However, many immigration advocates say Title 42 actually gave migrants the incentive to try repeatedly to enter the country because there were no repercussions if people were expelled.
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They said the end of Title 42 means the US goes back to a policy where immigrants are penalised when they are turned away.
The Biden administration argues there will be bans for people entering the country for at least five years if they arrive illegally and they would also be unable to apply for asylum.
Federal officers remove handcuffs from men before releasing them through a gate in a border wall to Tijuana, Mexico, in San Diego (Gregory Bull/AP/REX/Shutterstock)Families will also be removed if the requirements for asylum are not met, the administration said and there will be efforts to keep track of families that include the use of GPS monitoring and strict curfews.
It is also hoped that a new reunification process for families from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Colombia will allow vetted migrants with family in the US to enter legally.
Elsewhere, access to an app where people can apply for asylum will be expanded and there are plans to double the number of refugees from the region.
The number of migrants crossing the dangerous Darien Gap could hit 400,000 by the end of this year, estimates say (Andrew Harnik/AP/REX/Shutterstock)Plans to address the Darien Gap - a dangerous 60-mile stretch of land consisting of rainforest and swamps connecting Central and South America - by targeting smuggling rings.
Despite this, UN-affiliated groups are warning that 100,000 people have already made the dangerous crossing through the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama and that the number of migrants making the crossing could hit 400,000 by the end of this year.
If these figures are correct, it would represent a huge increase from the estimate 250,000 people that made the journey last year.
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