Increase in "express" deportations of thousands of Colombians arriving at the southern border of the United States.
According to Tom Cartwright of Witnesses on the Border, between March and May the U.S. sent 48 flights, estimated to have brought back approximately 5,000 people who were denied entry to the country during those three months. To put that number into context, prior to March of this year, the average number of flights per month was one.
The "express expulsion" of Colombians skyrocketed from that month onwards after an agreement was reached in Washington with the national government to accept the return of these people without first subjecting them to the regular processing and deportation process that exists in the North American country.
So far this year, the number of Colombians attempting to enter the country illegally has increased compared to last year. Throughout 2021, approximately 10,000 Colombians were arrested at the border. However, in March of this year alone, arrests reached almost 16,000, and so far this fiscal year, the figures have reached more than 55,000 people.
The United States is using the controversial Title 42 to facilitate the deportation of citizens of many nationalities, conducting such flights to various countries around the world, including Brazil, Ecuador, and Haiti. However, the situation is entirely different for its close neighbors, because, as Adam Isacson, a security expert at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), states, "In the case of the land border, they simply take the arrested person to the border line and leave them there, regardless of whether Mexican authorities are present or not.".
Joe Biden has tried to lift the controversial Title 42, but a Louisiana judge blocked his decision while the case remains in court.
The expedited removal process occurs when a person is detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and faces two possible paths that are defined by the arresting officer.
The first is expedited removal through Title 42. The second is processing under Title 8. Title 8 is the mechanism normally used to process detainees and typically includes safeguards and guarantees not found under Title 42. According to some experts, the border official chooses the appropriate Title depending on how the encounter occurred. If the person was entering the country illegally and is apprehended, they are generally an immediate candidate for Title 42. The documents the migrant is carrying also influence the decision, as does whether they are part of a family unit or an adult traveling alone.
Finally, removal under Title 42 has no legal consequences in the U.S. because these are removals, not deportations. In contrast, under Title 8, individuals denied entry, whether through summary removal or because their asylum application was denied by an immigration judge, are barred from attempting to enter the country for a period of five years.
News report based on information from: El Tiempo