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U.S. NEWS Wednesday 30 March 2022
Border crossings rise as U.S. nears decision on asylum limits

By ACACIA CORONADO The administration is par- first two weeks of March,
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — ticularly challenged by mi- according to the state De-
About 7,000 migrants are grants from countries that partment of Social Servic-
being stopped crossing the have traditionally not sent es. That's a rate of just 1.9%,
border daily from Mexico, such large numbers of peo- down from a peak of 28.2%
the U.S. Border Patrol chief ple to the U.S., including on Jan. 8.
said Tuesday, a sharp in- Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezu- In Pima County, Arizona,
crease from February that ela and Colombia. which includes Tucson, the
comes as the Biden admin- Since March 2020, the U.S. seven-day positivity rate
istration nears a decision has used a public health among migrants didn't ex-
on whether to end sweep- order aimed at limiting the ceed 1.3% in early March.
ing asylum restrictions spread of COVID-19 to ex- The positivity rate among
designed to prevent the pel migrants more than 5,300 migrants tested last
spread of COVID-19. 1.7 million times without a month at the Regional
Chief Raul Ortiz said 1,500 chance to seek asylum. Center for Border Health
Cubans were stopped over The U.S. Centers for Disease A group of Brazilian migrants make their way around a gap in near Yuma, Arizona, was
the previous day, well more Control and Prevention is the U.S.-Mexico border in Yuma, Ariz., seeking asylum in the 0.1%.
United States after crossing over from Mexico, June 8, 2021. bor-
than double the daily aver- expected to decide this der. McAllen, Texas, the larg-
age from February. He nod- week whether to extend Associated Press est city in the busiest cor-
ded when asked to confirm Title 42, named for a 1944 ridor for illegal crossings,
that about 7,000 migrants public health law. more questions about the crossings suggest it is well has a higher rate among
were being stopped, which Some migrants from coun- scientific grounds for Title below levels that have trig- migrants — 11.3% for the
compares with a daily av- tries such as Cuba have 42. While there is no aggre- gered concerns among week ending March 16 —
erage of about 5,900 in continued to be released gate rate for migrants, test U.S. officials. but it has been consistent-
February. in the U.S. to pursue asylum results from several major In California, 54 of 2,877 mi- ly lower than the general
The sharp increases, if sus- because costs and diplo- corridors for illegal border grants tested positive the population.q
tained, may surpass levels matic challenges prevent
of migration reached last the U.S. from sending them
year, in 2019 and other home.
peak periods. U.S. Immigration and Cus-
"This is a bipartisan issue, toms Enforcement has
you have to get both sides about 21,000 detention
of the parties together," Or- beds available, said Co-
tiz said at Border Security rey Price, director of the
Expo, an industry confer- agency's enforcement and
ence in San Antonio. removal operations. Even
The Homeland Security De- if it emptied its beds, they
partment says it is planning could be full this weekend
for three scenarios: current with new arrivals. The agen-
level of illegal border cross- cy is increasingly looking at
ings, 12,000 and 18,000, an home confinement and
astounding number but other alternatives, he said.
one that officials said was COVID-19 rates have been
simply to be prepared and plunging among migrants
not a projection. crossing the border, raising

Biden signs bill making

lynching a federal hate

crime

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Biden acknowledged
WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi- the long delay during re-
dent Joe Biden on Tuesday marks in the Rose Garden
signed a bill into law to to lawmakers, administra-
make lynching a federal tion officials and civil rights
hate crime, more than 100 advocates, stressing how
years after such legislation the violent deaths of Black
was first proposed. Americans were used to in-
The Emmett Till Anti-Lynch- timidate them and prevent
ing Act is named after the them from voting simply
Black teenager whose kill- because of their skin color.
ing in Mississippi in the sum- "Thank you for never giving
mer of 1955 became a up, never ever giving up,"
galvanizing moment in the the president said. "Lynch-
civil rights era. His grieving ing was pure terror to en-
mother insisted on an open force the lie that not every-
casket to show everyone one, not everyone, belongs
how her son had been bru- in America, not everyone is
talized. created equal."q