President Joe Biden is taking executive action to undo many of his predecessor’s policies and implement what he says is a more humane immigration policy.
However, administration officials are sending a warning to individuals who may believe that now is the time to make the trek to the U.S. that it will take time to implement the new policies.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Tuesday, “The message continues to be what it has been.”
She continued, “This is not the time. We want to put in place an immigration process here that is humane, that is moral, that considers applications for refugees, applications for people to come into this country at the border in a way that treats people as human beings. That’s going to take some time it’s not going to happen overnight.”
Psaki noted that Biden has unveiled a bill designed to overhaul the country’s immigration system.
While Biden hopes Congress will pass his bill, she said the president is planning to sign more executive orders to undo as many of Trump’s immigration policies as he can.
“It remains a dangerous trip. This is not the time to come to the United States. We need the time to put in place an immigration process so people can be treated humanely,” she reiterated.
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JUST IN: Jen Psaki’s message to immigrants thinking of coming north: “This is not the time to come to the United States. We need the time to put in place an immigration process so people can be treated humanely.” pic.twitter.com/qOGD02fLYJ
— Forbes (@Forbes) February 2, 2021
Biden has vowed that he will reverse many of Trump’s restrictive immigration policies and adopt what he says is a more humane system to process immigrants.
However, officials in the Biden administration are trying to make it clear that it will take time for the changes to take place and are urging potential migrants to wait before they make the trek to the U.S.
Just days before Biden was sworn in, thousands of Honduran migrants seeking to flee a country ravaged by a natural disaster, economic hardship, drought, and food scarcity began to make their way toward the U.S.
But an official with Biden’s transition team sent a warning to those seeking to come to the country that “the situation at the border isn’t going to be transformed overnight.”
The official also told NBC News that asylum seekers “need to understand they’re not going to be able to come into the United States immediately.”
“We have to provide a message that help and hope is on the way, but coming right now does not make sense for their own safety… while we put into place processes that they may be able to access in the future,” that official added.
The newly confirmed Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, was pressed during his confirmation hearings on how he would handle the migrant caravan if he was confirmed to the position.
“We are a nation of immigrants. And we are also a nation of laws. And I intend to apply the law in the execution of my responsibilities as the secretary of Homeland Security,” Mayorkas said.
He added, “If people qualify under the law to remain in the United States, then we will apply the law accordingly. If they do not qualify to remain in the United States, then they won’t.”
