Biden's mounting immigration crisis
- 3 years ago
President Joe Biden took office on the promise that he would clean up America's broken immigration system, but only a few months into his tenure the US faces a rising tide of migrants on its southern border. We speak with asylum seekers staying in the tent city in Tijuana to find out why they are there and what their message is for Joe Biden. We also hear from the bipartisan press conference of US Senator for Texas: John Coryn and Rep Henry Cuellar on the dramatic surge in migrants at the border.
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FEMA: the federal emergency disaster agency deployed to deal with the immigration crisis unfolding at the US Mexico border. Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar of Texas warns of the spike in unaccompanied children attempting to cross the border.
SOT Rep Henry Cuellar, Democrat, Texas
Press Conference, Laredo Texas
We've seen this before. We started in 2014. We started in 2019, and we're seeing them again. The numbers yet have not hit the numbers that we saw in May of 2019, but they're going there
But it's not just children flooding the border. Many are hoping the change in administration may be their best chance to gain entry.
These Honduran citizens are seeking asylum in the US, they are staying in the 'tent city in Tijuana, Mexico and appeal to the President to help them.
SOT
Francisco Vázquez, Hondouran Citizen
We have all come here and we humbly ask the president, with all the respect that he deserves, to he help us
SOT Dania Isabel Vasquez, Hondouran Citizen
We came from our country, from Honduras, fleeing from gang threats.
we cannot live there because there is a lot of crime and a lot of corruption.
And this question of asylum seekers is a matter of political priority for Texas Senator John Coryn,
SOT Senator John Coryn,
'We have to get to a better place when it comes to getting people with legitimate asylum claims in front of an immigration judge so they can make their case and those that can't would be returned to their country of origin. Right now, the biggest problem is we've got a 1.2 million immigration cases backlog.'
That backlog of immigration cases, coupled with a rising tide of people at the US/Mexico border puts the heat on the Biden administration to reach a solution, fast.
****************************SCRIPT********************************
FEMA: the federal emergency disaster agency deployed to deal with the immigration crisis unfolding at the US Mexico border. Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar of Texas warns of the spike in unaccompanied children attempting to cross the border.
SOT Rep Henry Cuellar, Democrat, Texas
Press Conference, Laredo Texas
We've seen this before. We started in 2014. We started in 2019, and we're seeing them again. The numbers yet have not hit the numbers that we saw in May of 2019, but they're going there
But it's not just children flooding the border. Many are hoping the change in administration may be their best chance to gain entry.
These Honduran citizens are seeking asylum in the US, they are staying in the 'tent city in Tijuana, Mexico and appeal to the President to help them.
SOT
Francisco Vázquez, Hondouran Citizen
We have all come here and we humbly ask the president, with all the respect that he deserves, to he help us
SOT Dania Isabel Vasquez, Hondouran Citizen
We came from our country, from Honduras, fleeing from gang threats.
we cannot live there because there is a lot of crime and a lot of corruption.
And this question of asylum seekers is a matter of political priority for Texas Senator John Coryn,
SOT Senator John Coryn,
'We have to get to a better place when it comes to getting people with legitimate asylum claims in front of an immigration judge so they can make their case and those that can't would be returned to their country of origin. Right now, the biggest problem is we've got a 1.2 million immigration cases backlog.'
That backlog of immigration cases, coupled with a rising tide of people at the US/Mexico border puts the heat on the Biden administration to reach a solution, fast.