BEVERLY HILLS, March 27, (THEWILL) – The US Department of State has issued a warning to potential irregular migrants from Africa, who may be drawing inspiration from the crisis at the country’s southern border.
A spokesperson of the department, Jalina Porter, who issued the warning, on Friday, said anyone seeking to enter the US should do so through legal pathways.
Jalina Porter told reporters at a news briefing: “The Biden administration certainly prioritises responsible and safe migration practices, and this doesn’t preclude anyone, whether you’re in the Northern Triangle or Central America or whether you are from Africa.
“So, we say to those in Africa who are looking at what’s going on along the border that the border is and always has been closed to irregular migration.
“Anyone seeking to come to the US should seek to do so via legal pathways.”
Porter was responding to a question on whether there would be consideration for asylum seekers from Africa in Biden administration’s proposed immigration reforms.
A part of the question centred on irregular African immigrants already in the US watching the situation at the southern border and hoping to get some relief.
The Biden administration is currently grappling with an influx of illegal migrants, mostly from Mexico, at the southern border.
Reports say about 5,000 unauthorised migrants are crossing into the country through that route every day, posing a huge logistical and humanitarian challenge to the new administration.
US authorities are reportedly allowing about half of the migrants to stay in the country and seek asylum.
After taking office in January, Biden reversed a policy by his predecessor, Donald Trump, of turning back unaccompanied children.
Now, the government processes them and places them with sponsoring families in the US, according to the BBC.
Critics are blaming these new policies for the surge in illegal migration, the BBC reported.
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