Record number of asylum seekers head to US border in new test for Biden

Thousands of refugees have crossed into the United States in recent days, from California to Texas, with many more still arriving by bus and cargo trains to Mexican border towns on the heels of record migration flows further south.

Within the last eight days, US Customs and Border Protection [CBP] had processed more than 5,000 refugees in the San Diego area, a San Diego official said on Thursday.

In Ciudad Juarez, opposite El Paso, hundreds of refugees squeezed past barbed wire to cross the Rio Grande River into the US, forming a line next to the border while awaiting processing by US officials.

The dramatic increase along the border — notably in San Diego, California and the Texan cities of El Paso and Eagle Pass — marks a turning point after numbers had plummeted in recent months, and could create fresh political challenges for US President Joe Biden heading into election season.

Biden, in May, rolled out a new policy to deter illegal crossings, including deporting refugees and banning re-entry for five years, as his administration grappled with migration at record highs.

Within a month, the tougher measures drove the border-crossing rate down some 70 percent.

But a recent uptick in arrivals at the border, combined with vastly higher numbers of people on their way north across Central and South America and riding dangerous cargo trains through Mexico, suggest the early deterrent effect is wearing off.

Experts say the US lacks the capacity to detain and process refugees at the border, often making it impossible for the administration to carry out the harsh penalties it announced in May.

As a result, some asylum seekers who cross illegally are being released into the US with a future court date, rather than being deported — becoming success stories repeated back to refugees still en route.

"The [Biden administration] hit on a smart strategy, but they don't have the resources or capacity to implement it," said Andrew Selee, head of the Migration Policy Institute.

No wait for appointments

In Tijuana on Wednesday evening, opposite San Diego, several dozen people prepared to spend the night sleeping on the ground at a border entry point ahead of appointments early the next day, secured through a mobile app called CBP One, to enter the US and request asylum.

But not everyone wants to wait.

"My wife's family, and other people who came to Mexico with us, say they crossed [without an appointment] and nothing happened," said Venezuelan refugee Oscar Suarez, 27, sitting in a Tijuana plaza near the border with his pregnant wife, 2-year-old son and two brothers.

He said he preferred to try the same strategy rather than wait on CBP One to obtain an appointment.

Demand for appointments far outweighs the 1,450 time slots available borderwide per day, and Suarez said he worried that his family would not survive a long wait.

Enrique Lucero, Tijuana's director of migrant affairs, said migration slowed after the US policy change in May, but, over the last several weeks, has been picking up.

Hundreds of refugees who crossed without appointments have been forced to wait between two border walls.

Refugees are also crossing the river at the Texas city of Eagle Pass, where officials signed an emergency declaration on Tuesday to seek funding for additional services, and railroad operator Union Pacific said it was forced to shut service to Mexico.

Groups of refugees have been as large as 1,000 or 2,000 people, including several hundred migrants who braved a hailstorm to wade through the river.

Thousands of refugees

A record of about 82,000 people last month entered Panama overland from South America, according to the International Organization for Migration [IOM], crossing the dangerous Darien Gap jungle that has transformed in recent years from a nearly impassable barrier to a migration thoroughfare.

As many as half a million people could end up crossing by year-end, double the number in 2022, said Giuseppe Loprete, head of IOM in Panama.

Most people crossing the Darien left their home countries due to lack of employment, according to a July UN survey.

An unprecedented number of migrants entering Mexico hail from other continents, as the trek to the US southern border increasingly becomes a global migration route.

The number of African refugees registered by Mexican authorities so far this year is already three times as high as in 2022.