US President Joe Biden has announced a new plan to accept up to 30,000 migrants each month, while also expanding a Trump-era policy to make it easier to send many back to Mexico. How will this impact the crisis at the border?
Mr Biden believes the new policy – which will apply to asylum seekers from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela – will “substantially reduce” the number of people who attempt to cross the US-Mexico border illegally.
“This new process is orderly, it’s safe and it’s humane,” Mr Biden said in a speech at the White House.
While experts and immigration advocates believe it may be effective, many expressed concerns that an increased number of migrants may be sent to unsafe or inhumane conditions in Mexico.
“The administration is shifting its overall policy to a carrot and stick approach,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, of the American Immigration Council. “And the emphasis is on the stick”.
R&I-Rawr