After months in which abortion was the main issue in the political polarization of the United States, since last week the predominant theme in the debates has changed: now, it is illegal immigrants.
This is because Republican governors of southern states (Texas, Arizona and Florida) are sending immigrants to regions that historically vote for the Democratic Party and that are called “sanctuary cities”, because they have more lenient policies towards foreigners. undocumented.
Two cases had national and international repercussions last week: the arrival of two buses of immigrants from Central and South America sent by the Texas government to the region where Vice President Kamala resides Harris in the federal capital, Washington; and about 50 immigrants flown from Texas to the island of Martha’s Vineyard (a well-known resort for millionaires in the state of Massachusetts) by the government of Florida.
Republicans claim that the lack of immigration policies of the government of Democrat Joe Biden is generating a humanitarian crisis on the southern border of the United States. US border agents have already reached fiscal year 2022 (starting October 1 of last year and ending on 2021 of September) a record of just over 2 million arrests of immigrants trying to illegally enter American territory.
According to a report released this Monday- () by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), pressure at the border has been generated by the increase in the number of immigrants trying to flee the humanitarian and economic disaster of the dictatorships of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Of the total number of immigrants detained last month, 56.333 were from these three countries; they represented 35% of people arrested in August and a contingent 175% higher compared to that recorded in the same month in 2021.
On the other hand, the number of immigrants from Mexico and northern Central America inmates fell for the third consecutive month: they totaled 43% of detainees (56.979 people) and 43% less compared to August last year.
The United States automatically deports many undocumented immigrants who arrive at its southern border, without giving them the opportunity to apply for asylum, based on a health measure adopted during the pandemic, under the Donald Trump administration. The Biden administration tried to revoke the measure, but the court determined it to remain in force.
However, many illegal Cubans, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans caught at the border do not return to their countries because the dictatorial governments of these nations are making it difficult for deportation flights to arrive from the US. For the same reason, Mexico has not accepted to receive immigrants from these countries to be expelled from the United States.
Florida has set aside US$ millions in its budget to remove “unauthorized aliens”. Governor Ron DeSantis claims that he does not govern a sanctuary state and that he can carry out removals of illegal immigrants from other states (as he did in Texas) because many who arrive across the southern border end up moving to Florida.
The Republican classified the complaints of Democrats in the north of the country about the removals carried out by Republican governments as hypocrisy.
“Many people in Washington and New York beat their chests when Trump was president , saying how proud they were to be sanctuary jurisdictions,” DeSantis said last week. “The minute a tiny fraction of what border towns have to contend with every day is brought to their doorstep, they go crazy.”
Fraud in the Biden Administration
NBC News has learned that DHS wants the federal government to immediately initiate a plan to structurely transfer illegal immigrants to other American regions. The problem is that the flow of immigrants in the south is around 8 thousand people a day, and the White House had stipulated that it should only authorize these measures when the level reached 9 thousand a day.
Officially, however, the DHS denies that there is friction on this issue within the Democratic administration.
“Rumors of friction are false. The significant increase in the number of Cuban and Venezuelan immigrants caught at the border poses unique and complex challenges, and this government is united in its commitment to address them in a safe, orderly and humane manner. The manipulation by the governors of Texas and Florida and the way Cuban and Venezuelan immigrants are being misled are reportedly worthy of condemnation,” the department said.
Ricardo Bruno Boff, professor of the International Relations course at the University of Vale do Itajaí (Univali), told Gazeta do Povo that the impasse can help republicans in the elections of midterm, in November.
“There is a tendency, as migration increases and the problem becomes more visible, for Republicans to gain a certain advantage and make their militancy work in a more energetic, to attract the votes of those who oppose this state of affairs and demand a quick solution. It is one more element among many, but it can be decisive in a very close election”, highlighted the specialist.
“There is no short-term solution. The United States will not solve this alone. A long-term solution would be cooperation for the development of the nations to the south, so that they have more complex economies and more possibilities for people to remain in their countries.”
Boff pointed out that the United States and Mexico has advanced in conversations on the topic of migration, with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador proposing that the country become something close to what Turkey is for the European Union, by “dampening” the arrival of immigrants. However, the Mexican resistance to receiving Cubans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans indicates that this dialogue has limits.
“Mexico has its own problems, drug trafficking, very high rates of violence, historical social issues, a serious energy problem”, argued the professor.
