U.S. border policies create volatile logjam in Mexico: NYT

A series of tough new border policies have sharply reduced the number of migrants crossing into the United States to their lowest levels since President Joe Biden took office, but the measures have created a combustible bottleneck along Mexico's northern border, with tens of thousands of frustrated migrants languishing in overcrowded shelters from Tijuana to Reynosa, reported The New York Times (NYT) on Tuesday, said Xinhua.

The situation exploded on Monday when a protest at a government-run migrant detention center in Ciudad Juárez led to a fire that killed at least 40 people. "But scenes of overcrowding and desperation have been unfolding in recent weeks along the length of the border as the Biden administration prepares for yet another surge in migration this spring," said the report.

Migrants have been waiting in anticipation of a major policy shift, expected in May, when the United States plans to lift a pandemic-era health policy that has allowed U.S. border authorities to swiftly expel many unauthorized migrants crossing the border from Mexico, according to the report.

"Separate new entry restrictions that have already taken effect require most migrants hoping to win U.S. asylum to apply for an appointment at a port of entry. Problems with the new mobile app have left thousands trying in vain for an appointment while stranded in Mexican border towns, where many have already been waiting for months," it said.

Under pressure from the United States, Mexico has agreed to accept the swelling numbers of migrants turned back by American authorities, and to take other measures to help control the number crossing into the United States, it added.