ARIZONA, USA — As the Biden administration pushes forward an immigration bill that would give a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., officials report an uptick in activity at the southern border.
Border Customs and Protection said that since early 2020, CPB has faced a growing number of individuals attempting to cross the southwest border, averaging 3,000 arrests per day in January 2021.
In the last week, the journey for migrants trying to cross the desert in Arizona has broken records.
On March 2nd, 13 people died following a crash 50 miles west of Yuma.
Authorities said the SUV was crammed with 25 migrants inside and crashed after getting through a hole in a border fence. Another vehicle with 19 passengers inside also made it through, but they were detained following a fire.
A day before that crash, which is now one of the deadliest border crashes on record, a father and his two-year-old-son escaped death after being rescued by CBP agents.
Yuma CBP released a video showing a father flowing down a canal near the Arizona-Mexico border with his child strapped to his back.
Officials say the pair crossed the border illegally, when the father tried to make way through the canal, he was swept by the current. A rescue helicopter, agents, and civilians all helped the father and son get to safety.
Although authorities say these types of incidents and close calls are increasing, the number of migrants staying at the ports of entry seeking asylum is also on the rise.
“Biden, don’t forget the promise,” said a migrant this week, as he and hundreds more marched to the San Ysidro port of entry in Tijuana, Baja California, wearing shirts that read “Biden Let Us In.”
This group of migrants said they weren’t a caravan, as they all individually made it to the US-Mexico border, they said. But their message was the same. Seek refuge in the United States.
“In our town, there is a lot of corruption, a lot of crime, you can’t live,” said Maria Guadalupe, a Mexican asylum seeker in the group.
For migrants, the only way of survival rests in the Biden administration as they hope for a change in the current immigration system.
The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 introduced by U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and U.S. Rep. Linda Sánchez, D-Calif., and backed by President Biden, includes an eight-year pathway to citizenship for people in the country unlawfully who arrived by Jan. 1st of this year.
Those who qualify could get permanent residency for five years and wait another three years to get citizenship. Currently, the wait is 13 years.
“This is all happening because of the signal that President Biden is sending to illegal immigrants,” said Republican Congresswoman Debbie Lesko, in response to why the uptick at the border.
Lesko said she agrees the immigration system needs changes but opposes the pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants currently in the U.S.
One area she agrees with the president is a part of the bill that calls for the set up of refugee processing in Central America.
“We need a more humane policy for people that want to come to the U.S. and immigrate legally or seek asylum is to do so from their home countries”, Rep. Lesko said.
As the immigration debate continues, migrants camping at the border say they will be standing by. As for them, the risk, they say, is greater in staying in their countries, than embarking the long journey to the U.S., even if it means risking death.
“There are many children who are suffering, who are sick,” said Dago, a Honduran father at the border. “Let us in because we want a future for our children.”
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