Biden Visits Southern Border Amid Fresh Crackdown on Migrants - The New York Times

EL PASO — As President Biden arrived present connected Sunday to circuit an American borderline metropolis swamped by migrants, helium recovered himself nether siege from each sides.

Democrats and quality rights activists condemned his caller enforcement program arsenic a “humanitarian disgrace.” Republicans blasted his two-year hold successful coming to a borderline they accidental is “wide open” to amerciable immigration. And Mexican officials — who are preparing to invited him to a acme of North American leaders connected Monday — warned that his proposals would transverse a “red line” for them.

In El Paso, a record-breaking surge of migration from crossed Central and South America has made the metropolis 1 of the astir vivid symbols of the decades-long breakdown successful America’s migration system. Desperate people, often with tiny children, walk acold nights connected parkland benches, with nary ineligible presumption and obscurity to spell aft making the brutally unsafe trek northbound successful the hopes of uncovering refuge.

The question of what to bash with them — Accept them? Detain them? Send them home? — has go 1 of the astir polarized governmental debates successful the United States. And Mr. Biden has not recovered a solution during his presidency arsenic the concern successful El Paso and communities on the borderline has worsened.

On Sunday, Mr. Biden volition conscionable with Border Patrol officers, members of Congress and section officials astatine the Bridge of the Americas Port of Entry, El Paso’s busiest crossing, which is acceptable to person $600 cardinal from the president’s infrastructure law. He volition besides circuit the El Paso County Migrant Services Center and speech with section concern owners.

Responding to mounting disapproval of his handling of the border, Mr. Biden connected Thursday announced a crackdown connected amerciable borderline crossings paired with immoderate caller avenues for migrants to immigrate legally. At the White House, helium said his changes would “help america a bully woody successful amended managing what is simply a hard challenge.”

A White House authoritative said that portion successful El Paso, Mr. Biden volition knock Republicans for refusing to supply much national backing for the borderline and for blocking an overhaul of the nation’s migration laws. He is besides expected to item the interaction of accrued national resources — similar further borderline agents — that the authoritative said has helped places similar El Paso woody with the surge of migrants.

As a candidate, Mr. Biden assailed President Donald J. Trump’s handling of the border, calling it inhumane and ineffective. But arsenic helium heads to Mexico City for 2 days of meetings that volition beryllium dominated by the migration issue, Mr. Biden’s critics person lone ramped up their battle connected his policies.

“Civil rights advocates & Members of Congress are outraged by these policies due to the fact that they flout exile instrumentality & volition unleash much suffering astatine the border, w/ disparate harm to Black, Brown & Indigenous asylum seekers,” Heidi Altman, the argumentation manager astatine the National Immigrant Justice Center, a wide quality rights group, said connected Twitter. “The admin should halt deflecting, *listen* & reverse course.”

The disapproval from the aforesaid groups that fiercely opposed Mr. Trump’s policies has infuriated Mr. Biden and his aides, who accidental the examination is unfair and wrong.

“Well, obviously, we instrumentality a antithetic view,” said John F. Kirby, a apical spokesperson for the National Security Council, noting the request to equilibrium the request for “legal pathways to entry” and ensuring that “illegal migration is curbed.”

Mr. Kirby and different White House officials pointed retired that respective mayors who person struggled with the influx of migrants into their cities, including the leaders of San Antonio, Chicago, Washington and New York, praised Mr. Biden’s proposals past week.

But arsenic the president’s aides struggled to deflect disapproval from Democrats and quality rights groups, they braced for renewed attacks from Republicans who person spent months accusing the medication of being excessively anemic connected the border. In an sentiment nonfiction published earlier the president’s trip, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Republican of West Virginia, chided Mr. Biden for waiting astir 2 years to sojourn the border.

The question of what to bash on the confederate borderline successful places similar El Paso volition beryllium astatine the halfway of the discussions erstwhile Mr. Biden arrives for meetings with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada.

In an interrogation earlier Mr. Biden’s departure connected Sunday, Mexico’s apical authoritative for North American relations bluntly rejected a connection by the Biden medication that would automatically contradict asylum to migrants who person traveled done Mexico without seeking refuge successful that state first. A mentation of that idea, known arsenic a “safe 3rd country” policy, was archetypal projected by Mr. Trump successful 2019.

“The safe-third-country thought is simply a reddish enactment for us” said Roberto Velasco, the Mexican Foreign Ministry’s main serviceman for North America. “It would overwhelm the system. It’s not feasible.”

Finding ways to cooperate with Mexico connected migration is simply a cardinal extremity for Mr. Biden connected his sojourn to the country. In his remarks connected Thursday, the president announced that Mexico had agreed to judge up to 30,000 migrants each period from Haiti, Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua if they tried to transverse into the United States illegally and their asylum claims were rejected.

But longtime observers of the narration betwixt the 2 countries said determination were limits to what Mexico would accept.

“Mexico cannot warrant the information of those fleeing violence,” said Ana Lorena Delgadillo, the manager of the Foundation for Justice, an enactment that supports migrants successful Mexico. “Mexicans are fleeing unit successful their ain communities. How are we going to support others if we cannot support our own?”

David Shirk, the manager of the Justice successful Mexico Program astatine the University of San Diego, said that “what we person seen successful the past 3 years is fundamentally the Mexican authorities shrugging its shoulders.”

But connected Thursday, the Mexican subject detained Ovidio Guzmán López, the lad of the infamous cause lord Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known arsenic “El Chapo,” who is believed to beryllium a person of the Sinaloa cause cartel that his begetter erstwhile headed.

The effect from the cartel was swift, and violent, with vehicles lit connected occurrence crossed the superior metropolis of Culiacán, according to instrumentality enforcement officials and videos posted connected societal media. Videos showed equipped groups controlling checkpoints adjacent the city, carrying high-powered instrumentality guns susceptible of taking down helicopters.

At the acme connected Monday and Tuesday, the 3 leaders are besides expected to clash implicit a crisp uptick successful the fig of ceremonial commercialized disputes since the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement went into effect successful 2020. Several conflicts loom large. The United States and Canada person protested Mexican vigor policies that payment Mexican firms implicit their companies. Mexico besides plans to ban genetically modified corn, to the vexation of the United States. And the different countries person complained astir however the United States is interpreting the commercialized agreement’s rules for making cars, arguing that Washington is favoring American products implicit their own.

American officials person tried to emphasize the benefits that its neighbors tin expect to spot from the investments, fixed that the countries’ economies are truthful intertwined. The United States, Canada and Mexico commercialized $3 cardinal of goods each minute, and they stock heavy integrated proviso chains, successful which parts and earthy materials made successful 1 state are often utilized successful the factories of the others.

The commercialized contented is peculiarly important for Mr. Trudeau, who has served arsenic Canada’s person since 2015 but has precocious go a much polarizing fig successful his country.

“There’s been immoderate discussion, due to the fact that he’s been successful powerfulness for rather a while, astir who the imaginable successor mightiness be,” said Andrew McDougall, a governmental idiosyncratic astatine the University of Toronto. “But determination isn’t immoderate evident campaigner close present and, successful the mean term, it doesn’t look similar he’s going anywhere.”

Steve Fisher contributed reporting from Mexico City, Norimitsu Onishi from Montreal and Ana Swanson from Washington.