Biden Administration to Prioritize Transgender Migrants Seeking to Cross US Border

The Biden administration, which effectively announced an open door policy for migrant children crossing the border alone, is expanding their priorities to include families with young children and people who identify as transgender. Vice President Kamala Harris has called violence against LGBT persons a “root cause” of migration.

The administration is opening up exceptions to a pandemic-inspired public health order that was put in place last year, and is increasing the allowances for “humanitarian exceptions,” NPR reports. {snip}

The White House isn’t publicizing this change in allowable entry criteria so as to not spark another migration boom, such as the one that happened when they announced to the world that unaccompanied minor children would be allowed to cross without exception. These children were promised housing, food, and an education if they made it to the border and crossed on their own. Border detainment facilities are already reported to be at capacity.

{snip}

These “humanitarian exceptions” are for those who are believed to be more vulnerable that the average illegal migrant, due to the danger of living in towns on the Mexican side of the border, where people typically wait to cross.

In April, Customs and Border Protection encountered 178,622 people crossing the US-Mexico border in April. While many are turned away, “an increasing number of single adults and families are being allowed into the US” as asylum seekers.

But the criteria for entry isn’t clear to border control agencies. {snip}

{snip}

About 32,500 people were allowed entry for asylum claims in April, including many single adults, and families with small children. The number of humanitarian exceptions has not been released, but these entries are not counted among the number of illegal entries. April asylum seekers were about 1,800, which is about double from March.

NPR reports that “Transgender migrants also have been allowed recently to cross through ports of entry to be processed by U.S. immigration authorities and released to reunite with family or sponsors while their asylum cases move through immigration court.”

{snip}