Changing the rules on Venezuelan migrants

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: immigration.

More than 2 million migrants have come to the U.S.-Mexico border in the past year—without prior permission to cross. Some of them showed up at official border crossings asking for asylum. Others crossed the border illegally.

NICK EICHER, HOST: More than 150,000 of those migrants came all the way from Venezuela, a distance of about 3,000 miles. To deal with them, President Biden has turned to a pandemic-era rule called Title 42. President Trump used that very same provision to speed up the deportation process after COVID-19 hit.

REICHARD: It’s a surprise to many that Biden appears to be picking up where Trump left off.

Joining us now to talk more about the situation for Venezuelans at the southern border is Danilo Zak. He’s the assistant vice president for policy and advocacy for the National Immigration Forum.

EICHER: Good morning, Danilo.

DANILO ZAK, GUEST: Good morning.

EICHER: Danilo, we’ve all heard the situation at the border called a crisis, and the numbers certainly bear that out. How do Venezuelan migrants fit into the picture, and why do you suppose the Biden administration is focusing on them now?

ZAK: Yeah, well, listen we’ve seen high numbers of migrants encountered at the border for some time now. But beneath those overall high-encounter numbers, the changing demographics and nationalities of arriving migrants really do have a major impact on what we actually see at the border and what we need to respond to. And while in years past, it may have been normal to see about a thousand Venezuelans arrive a month at the border. In August, the most recent month we have clear data for, over 25,000 encounters of Venezuelans were reported. And in addition to that, while we were rapidly expelling many other migrants under a policy called Title 42, Venezuelans have largely been exempt from that policy and allowed to enter immigration court proceedings here in the U.S., pursue their asylum claims.

EICHER: The Biden administration also announced a program at the same time to accept some Venezuelans on humanitarian parole on this condition: that they apply remotely and come to the United States by air, not by land through Mexico. Danilo, here’s my question: do you think this will eliminate the idea of the “attractive nuisance” that prompts Venezuelans and others to risk their lives making the journey on foot?

ZAK: Yeah, the program has been quite limited as it's been initially described. Of course, there's the initial cap of 24,000. Over 25,000 a month are arriving at the border, so we're not dealing with all the numbers, first of all, but also it's likely to be a different population. I mean, as you said, this program is designed for people who can afford plane tickets to the U.S. It's for people who have direct ties to the U.S. It could just be a different population that's trying to reach our border by foot than would be sort of eligible or able to access this new parole program.

EICHER: It seems like a bit of a surprise that the Biden administration would use Title 42, given its use by the Trump administration. Can you explain how Title 42 works and maybe venture a guess as to why the Biden administration is applying it to this situation?

ZAK: Yeah, of course. Title 42 is a pandemic-era authority that was first implemented under the Trump administration and it's been used to rapidly expel arriving migrants to Mexico or to their home countries without first providing them the opportunity to seek humanitarian protection or asylum. It's really immediate and rapid expulsion upon arrival. And the policy has really been used to supersede existing federal immigration law at the border, which occurs under Title 8. And it really relies entirely on this public health rationale that we can't provide effective processing or access to asylum to migrants for fear they will contribute to the spread of COVID-19 while going through that processing. The policy is still in place due to a court order. But the administration seems to have made clear that it does not support the use of Title 42. So this expansion is concerning, and does seem to be a bit hypocritical as well.

EICHER: Before we let you go—and we just have a few minutes remaining here—I do want to ask a bit about Title 42, a temporary measure. What happens when that goes away?

ZAK: Long term, I think we're going to be able to rely on our existing immigration law, which is really designed to handle migrants arriving. Title 42, while it's been in place, we've seen a real increase in recidivism or repeat crossing because migrants returned under Title 42 happens very quickly. They're able to just go back to Mexico and then immediately try to cross again into the U.S. There have been reports of migrants crossing 10, 20, even 30 times in a short period because of what Title 42 allows them to do. Title 8, the more traditional immigration processing, doesn't allow for repeat crossing. It carries additional penalties for repeat crossing, it allows people to pursue asylum claims when they really deserve them.

EICHER: Danilo Zak, of the National Immigration Forum. Thanks so much for joining us today.

ZAK: Thank you so much for having me.

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