Biden to announce new border plan to curb illegal crossings by migrants

President Joe Biden on Thursday will announce plans to accept up to 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela in a border strategy that will be paired with the expanded use of Title 42 expulsions.

The president, in a speech in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, will unveil a new humanitarian “parole” program for migrants from those nations, according to several people familiar with the planning. It will reflect his administration’s latest venture to combat a migration surge straining the U.S. immigration system.

The new policy is modeled after the one rolled out solely for Venezuelans this fall, which created a narrow pathway for up to 24,000 migrants who have preexisting ties in the United States, and people who could provide financial and other support. Implementation of the program, which deals with countries facing political and economic turmoil, is dependent on the use of the Title 42 authority to turn away those at the U.S.-Mexico border who don’t qualify.

Border agents have already turned away masses of Venezuelans using Title 42 authority over the past few months, and now they will do the same for Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans.

The program for Venezuelans, announced in October 2022, forces migrants to apply for asylum from their home country, while expelling those who tried to enter the U.S. unlawfully from Mexico. Venezuelans who were approved for humanitarian parole were allowed to enter the U.S. by air. The number of those migrants crossing illegally has dropped 70 percent, falling from about 21,000 in October to 6,200 in November, according to latest U.S. Customs and Border protection data.

The program’s unveiling comes a day after Biden announced that it is his “intention” to make his first trip to the border as president ahead of next week’s visit to Mexico City for a meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The border crisis is expected to be a top issue at the summit.

The president’s speech will likely be met with swift criticism from immigration reform advocates and lawyers who condemn any expansion of the Trump-era border policy, which has allowed border agents to immediately expel millions of migrants on public health grounds without considering their claims for asylum. For days, administration officials have been weighing the political consequences of doubling down on Title 42.

The border dilemma has intensified for the Biden administration in recent weeks as officials prepared for a court-ordered end to Title 42 limits, only to see the Supreme Court temporarily block lifting the policy. But regardless of the Trump-era policy’s fate — set to be decided by the high court later this year — the southern border is facing a record-breaking migration influx likely to remain a key policy issue throughout Biden’s presidency.

Biden is also facing growing criticism from both Republicans and Democrats on border issues. Thursday’s announcement could temporarily help the administration tackle the record number of people fleeing to the U.S. but it will also open the White House up to criticism that it is utilizing a pandemic-era tool that Biden, who has said the pandemic is over, has formally pushed to ax.