Despite the measures that have been taken by the Colombian authorities on the different borders, the migration of compatriots has been increasing. One example is what was reported by the U.S. Customs and Border Control. UU. (CBP), which indicated that in March the arrival of illegal migrants of Colombian nationality increased alarmingly, since at that time alone the authorities detained 15,144 Colombians.
In some cases, detainees stated their reasons and sought asylum for different reasons, most of them related to security issues. The figure is worrying for both countries because in just one month this problem increased by 58%, since in February there were an average of 9,600 arrests, although if you look more closely, you can see an increase of more than 300% in the first quarter, since in January there were only 3,911 arrests.
However, it seems to be a long-standing issue, since as El Tiempo mentioned, if you look by month and take the first available data from the CBP, which is that of October 2019, the increase has been 36,000%.
The report submitted by the United States also made it clear that the border through which Colombians enter the most is the south, so as a measure to address it, both countries signed an agreement to receive expelled nationals through the controversial Title 42, which allows them to remove people expressly and without due immigration procedure claiming that the covid-19 pandemic has generated a health emergency in the country.
“After talks with the Colombian government, in March 2022, DHS began repatriating Colombian citizens to Colombia in accordance with the Title 42 public health order,” a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official told AFP.
Migration Colombia, in a statement, explained that the deportation measure works in a coordinated manner through permanent communication between the Homeland Security of the United States and the entity. He also indicated that there is a monthly flight called the deportees flight, in which about 90 people arrive on average.
It is noteworthy that, former Republican President Donald Trump imposed Title 42, which allows the expulsion of undocumented migrants claiming that they may be carriers of covid-19. Now with Joe Biden's administration, it banned the placement of minors in detention centers while the legal situation is being resolved.
In that country the number of Covid-19 cases averaged 27,000 daily in recent days compared to a peak of 700,000 in mid-January, so the community has asked Biden to suspend the application of this rule.
The above, because the Democratic President had committed to reversing Trump-era immigration policies, the CDC, under his administration, extended Title 42 in August 2021 and again in January, due to the delta and omicron variants, respectively.
“passengers are subjected to a medical examination before boarding”, they must wear a mask, test negative for covid-19, have a temperature below 37.2 ºC and have no symptoms related to the coronavirus in order to travel,” said DHS official.
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