美国总统乔·拜登周四表示，他计划周日访问与墨西哥接壤的南部边境，这是他上任以来的第一次。
拜登说他会的参观德克萨斯州的埃尔帕索“为了评估边境执法行动，我会见了当地官员、社区领袖和边境上的人们，他们把他们所需要的、他们没有的东西发给了我。”
自从拜登当选总统以来，共和党人一直在他对移民和南部边境危机的处理上抨击他，使其成为去年中期选举的首要竞选议题。
尽管有这种压力，拜登拒绝了他们要求他实际访问边境的呼吁。
但在周四，拜登指责共和党人“对此根本不认真”。他说，在他得到边境官员的反馈后，他将“公开”这些官员所说的“他们需要，但他们没有——试图说服我的共和党同事他们应该做些什么。”
拜登已经计划在周一和周二访问墨西哥城，会见墨西哥总统洛佩斯和加拿大总理贾斯廷·特鲁多。白宫表示，所谓的“北美领导人峰会”，也被称为“三个朋友峰会”，将重点关注气候变化、移民、环境、经济和其他主题。
拜登政府周四还宣布，计划将更多移民送回墨西哥，尽管它正在法庭上争取结束联邦政府目前正在实施的疫情时代的“第42条”限制。美国政府与墨西哥政府合作，预计每月将有多达30，000名未经许可的古巴、海地、尼加拉瓜和委内瑞拉移民送往墨西哥。
虽然不是第42条的正式扩展----鉴于议定书从未有过基于国籍的例外----但墨西哥接受古巴人、海地人和尼加拉瓜人将有效地允许在法令仍然有效的情况下更多的第42条驱逐出境。外交紧张局势给组织飞往这些国家的遣返航班造成了困难。墨西哥同意接受它们将允许根据第42条或通过其他方式进行更多的清除。
与此同时，奥巴马总统周四宣布了一项新的政策扩展，将每月接纳多达3万名来自古巴、海地、尼加拉瓜和委内瑞拉的移民。作为允许移民寻求庇护的假释计划的一部分，委内瑞拉人已经能够申请入境。
根据拜登政府的说法，移民必须满足特定的赞助标准，并通过背景调查和额外的审查。
“我的信息是这样的，”他说。“如果你试图离开古巴、尼加拉瓜或海地，你已经——我们也已经——同意开始前往美国的旅程，不要，不要只是出现在边境。呆在原地，从那里合法申请。从今天开始，如果你不通过法律程序申请，你将没有资格参加这个新的假释计划。”
官员们周四表示，政府还计划扩大快速遣返程序，这可能导致非墨西哥人即使没有第42条也可以被送往墨西哥。
《美国法典》第8篇下的快速驱逐与第42篇下的快速驱逐是分开的，并且是处理跨行政部门的未经授权的移民的标准方法的一部分。第8条还允许当局对非法越境适用法律后果，包括5年内禁止再次进入美国。
拜登关注边境的当天，共和党被众议院的领导权之争分散了注意力，众议员凯文·麦卡锡努力抵挡坚定的保守派的叛乱。
那争取众议院议长国会共和党人过去曾抨击拜登缺乏对边境安全的关注，这可能会使国会共和党人做出更强烈的回应。
拜登呼吁共和党人与他合作，并提供更多资金来应对危机。
“我们在边境的问题不是一夜之间出现的，也不会在一夜之间得到解决，”总统说。“这是个难题。很明显，移民是一个政治问题，极端的共和党人会一直谈论这个问题。但是现在他们有一个选择。他们可以继续利用移民来获得政治加分，或者帮助解决问题。”
Biden to make first trip to US-Mexico border as president on Sunday
President Joe Biden on Thursday said he plans to visit the southern border with Mexico on Sunday, for the first time since taking office.
Biden said he will visit El Paso, Texas, "to assess border enforcement operations, meet with the local officials and community leaders and the folks at the border sending me what they need that they don't have."
Since he became president, Republicans have hammered Biden on his handling of immigration and the crisis at the southern border, making it a top campaign issue in last year's midterm elections.
Despite that pressure, Biden has resisted their calls for him to actually visit the border.
But on Thursday, Biden accused Republicans of not having been "serious about this at all." And he said that after he gets feedback from officials on the border, he would "make it public" what those officials say "they need, they don't have -- to try to convince my Republican colleagues they should do something."
Biden had already planned to visit Mexico City on Monday and Tuesday to meet with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. That so-called "North American Leaders Summit," also known as the "Three Amigos Summit," will focus on climate change, migration, the environment, the economy and other topics, the White House has said.
The Biden administration also announced Thursday it planned to send more migrants back to Mexico, even as it fights in court to end the "Title 42" pandemic-era restrictions the federal government is currently enforcing. Working with the Mexican government, the administration expects to send as many as 30,000 unauthorized Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan migrants to Mexico each month.
While not an official expansion of Title 42 -- given that there have never been nationality-based exceptions to the protocols -- Mexico's acceptance of Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans will effectively allow for more Title 42 expulsions while the order remains in place. Diplomatic tensions have caused difficulties in organizing removal flights to those countries. Mexico's agreement to accept them will allow for more removals under Title 42 or by other means.
Simultaneously, the president on Thursday announced a new policy expansion that will admit up to 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Venezuelans had already been able to apply for admission as part of the parole program which allows migrants to seek asylum.
The migrants must meet certain sponsorship criteria and who pass background checks and additional vetting, according to the Biden administration.
"My message is this," he said. "If you're trying to leave Cuba, Nicaragua, or Haiti, you have – and we have -- and have agreed to begin a journey to America, do not, do not just show up at the border. Stay where you are and apply legally from there. Starting today if you don't apply through the legal process you will not be eligible for this new parole program."
The administration also plans to expand expedited removal processes which could result in non-Mexicans getting sent to Mexico even without Title 42, officials said Thursday.
Expedited removal under Title 8 of the U.S. code is separate from Title 42 and has been part of the standard method for handling unauthorized migration across administrations. Title 8 also allows authorities to apply legal consequences for illegal crossings, including a 5-year ban on reentry into the U.S.
Biden's focus on the border came on a day when the GOP was distracted by a leadership battle in the House of Representatives, where Rep. Kevin McCarthy struggled to fend off a rebellion by staunch conservatives.
That fight for speaker of the House had muted what might have been a stronger response from congressional Republicans, who in the past have slammed Biden for what they say is a lack of attention to border security.
Biden called on Republicans to work with him -- and to provide more funding to tackle the crisis.
"Our problems at the border didn't arise overnight and they're not going to be solved overnight," the president said. "It's a difficult problem. It's clear that immigration is a political issue that extreme Republicans are always going to run on. But now they have a choice. They can keep using immigration to try to score political points or they can help solve the problem."
