Asylum seekers in limbo at U.S. border

June 6, 2024

Children play near the border wall by the US-Mexico border. Photograph: Go Nakamura/Reuters

U.S. agents began turning back migrants along the border with Mexico, yesterday, under the Biden administration’s new restrictions, which effectively shut down the border to asylum seekers when daily crossings surpass a threshold. (See yesterday’s post.)

The policy leaves people at the border in limbo, most of whom have traveled great distances in hardship to seek U.S. protection. They were reeling yesterday as they struggled to understand the implications of the asylum shutdown, reports the Guardian.

Officials said “it was too soon to gauge whether the restrictions would have a deterrent effect on migrants seeking to enter the U.S. illegally, and they acknowledged limitations in detention space and deportation capacity would blunt their ability to apply the restrictions,” reports the Washington Post.

“Human rights advocates say, Biden’s order – which is the latest in a number of policy changes aimed at drastically reducing access to the US asylum system – is unlikely achieve its intended purpose of reducing arrivals at the border,” reports the Guardian.

Instead, analysts say Mexican authorities will bear the brunt of the measure, forced to deal with the people sent back from the U.S., reports the New York Times.

Regional Relations

• Russia will deploy aircraft and combat navy vessels to the Caribbean for military exercises in the coming weeks. U.S. officials believe the move is a messaging tactic in response to use of U.S. weapons by Ukraine against Russia. The U.S. expects port calls by Russian combat naval vessels in Cuba, and possibly Venezuela, reports the Miami Herald.

• Claudia Sheinbaum’s landslide victory in last Sunday’s presidential elections mean Mexico will stay firmly in the leftist side of the ideological spectrum, "Under a Sheinbaum presidency there will probably not be much change on Latin America's political chessboard," said Inter-American Dialogue’s Michael Shifter told AFP. "Sheinbaum may be even more committed to leftist ideology than AMLO, though her administration is not likely to seek to exert much influence on like-minded allies in the region.”

Mexico

• International reporting on Mexico’s election paints a potentially dire picture of the country’s democratic future that is not reflected by a majority of people on the ground in Mexico. The mismatch reflects the disproportionate influence of “a Mexican opposition trapped within its own disinformation bubble, that was caught completely off guard by Sheinbaum’s win, and that nevertheless continues to have access to much of the global media, which in turn quotes many of the fears that this rather small group harbours,” according to Mexico Political Economist.

• Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced a plan finance Mexican health care clinics, Tuesday, seeking to address a key voter complaint with his government following his party’s landslide election victory, reports Bloomberg.

• The recent killing of “Cheyo Anthrax,” a key member of the Sinaloa Cartel is unlikely to "have a major impact on the internal organization and criminal dynamics of the Sinaloa Cartel,” according to InSight Crime.

Brazil

• Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is attempting to woo Evangelical voters — socio-economically they are of the vulnerable populations that have made up the Workers’ Party base, but they broke with the leftist party ten years ago, driven away by its socially progressive positions and corruption scandals. They have formed a key pillar of support for Lula’s adversary, former President Jair Bolsonaro, reports Bloomberg.

Ecuador

• The family of José Ruben Zamora, a journalist imprisoned in Ecuador, have denounced malicious delays in the case by the judge, reports the Associated Press.

Argentina

• More than half of Argentines now live in poverty, according to Universidad Católica monitoring, with levels rising non-stop since a year ago and quickening since President Javier Milei implemented extreme austerity measures, reports AFP.

Chile

• Chilean President Gabriel Boric promised to introduce a bill to fully legalize abortion, during his state of the union address. “As president, I am convinced of the need for a democratic debate on the topic of sexual and reproductive rights,” Boric said. (Bloomberg)

• Boric also promised to give priority status to a stalled bill legalizing euthanasia, a topic that has high approval among Chileans, reports El País.

• A tree that fell on an electricity transmission tower in Chile left hundreds of thousands of customers in Santiago without power, reports the New York Times.

Critter Corner

• Elephant seals in South America died in massive numbers because the bird flu virus acquired mutations that allowed it to spread among mammals, reports the New York Times.