Biden’s inauguration sparks hope among immigrants as new caravans queue

By Elket Rodríguez

Joe Biden’s inauguration sparked hope among immigrants on both sides of the United States’ southern border as he became the nation’s 46th president Jan. 20. 

In the United States, the undocumented, immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees anticipated the president’s early steps toward immigration reform. Meanwhile, in Central America, suffering people considered whether they, too, should consider migrating north.

On his first day in office, Biden issued several executive actions affecting immigration:

• A proclamation halting construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall and reversing declaration of the “national emergency” that diverted millions of dollars to its construction.

• An executive order resetting enforcement priorities for civil immigration laws. The Department of Homeland Security reacted to the order by issuing a memorandum pausing deportation of some noncitizens for 100 days, starting Jan. 22. 

• A memorandum instructing the secretary of Homeland Security to preserve and fortify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA.

• A proclamation ending travel bans that restricted travel and immigration from Muslim-majority countries and instructing the State Department to restart visa applications from these countries. 

• An executive order instructing the secretary of Commerce to count noncitizens in the U.S. census. 

The president also is expected to ask Congress to pass the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, which provides a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients, Temporary Protected Status holders and undocumented immigrants. 

While the president was addressing the nation on Inauguration Day, Guatemalan authorities were searching for 1,500 individuals dispersed throughout their territory after four days of clashes with a caravan of 9,000 migrants. Most of them are Hondurans who believe a rumor Biden soon will open the U.S.-Mexico border.

In the run-up to the inauguration, however, the Biden administration signaled it intends to avoid a rush of migrants to the southern border. Still, thousands of Central Americans suffering from persecution, violence, crushing poverty and the devastation of 2020 hurricanes seem determined to seek U.S. asylum by rushing the border. 

Even though Guatemala has deported 3,600 migrants and has deployed 5,000 troops to control the caravan, reports indicate many migrants in the caravan have arrived at Tecún Umán, a border town in northern Honduras, across Ciudad Hidalgo in Chiapas, Mexico’s southernmost state and one of the world’s busiest migrant corridors. 

Saturnino Esparta, pastor of Cuarta Iglesia Bautista Adonai (Fourth Baptist Church Adonai) in Tapachula, Chiapas, reported “about a thousand migrants arrive in Tapachulas every day. The migrant flow increased in December and January, he added. 

Pastors who comprise Fellowship Southwest’s immigrant relief ministry said they are seeing a daily average of 15 to 20 new migrants in the northern Mexico cities where they operate their shelters. 

In response to the increasing migrant flow, Homeland Security released a Jan. 20 statement declaring the borders remain closed to nonessential travel. The Biden administration also has not rolled back the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention order, known as Title 42, that authorizes rapid expulsion of migrants at the border, due to COVID-19.

Homeland Security also suspended new enrollments in the Migrant Protection Protocols program, also known as MPP or “remain in Mexico.” Its announcement does not say whether or when asylum seekers already enrolled in the protocols will be allowed to enter the United States. 

In his immigration platform, Biden vowed to end MPP during his first 100 days in office. In March 2020, Homeland Security and the Justice Department suspended immigration court hearings for asylum seekers until further notice. Many of them arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border more than a year ago, and many of them have experienced physical assaults and sexual abuse while waiting. Uncertainty among the 65,000 asylum seekers currently in the program is growing exponentially.

Fellowship Southwest will continue to track changes in the migrant flow and adapt to realities of serving refugees on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. We serve these migrants by providing ongoing financial support to the pastors who minister all along the U.S.-Mexico border. You can support these pastors and their ministries by donating to the Fellowship Southwest Immigrant Relief Ministry by clicking here.

Elket Rodríguez is the immigrant and refugee advocacy and missions specialist for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Fellowship Southwest.