LGBT Migrants Are Being Given a Humanitarian Pass at Ca. Border

 

SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — About 120 asylum-seekers who are members of the LGBT community are being allowed into the U.S. on a daily basis.

Enrique Lucero, the director of the Migrant Affairs Office in Tijuana, said they are crossing the border at PedWest, one of two pedestrian crossings at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

“The migrants must show they have a disability, health issues, or have been victims of discrimination or persecution back home,” said Lucero. “This is humanitarian parole.” 

But this development is generating uncertainty and unrealistic expectations in shelters throughout Tijuana, Lucero said.

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“This is creating a lot of crowds at shelters, especially Haitian migrants,” Lucero said. “They’re going to have to be patient, there’s a two-year waiting period due to Title 42.”

Title 42 was instituted during the Trump administration to stop the cross-border spread of COVID-19. Still, it allowed U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and agents to expel migrants to Mexico or their home countries without an opportunity to request asylum.

The Biden administration attempted to end Title 42, but a federal judge blocked those efforts, and the restrictions on asylum remain in place while the lawsuit makes its way through the court

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Lucero stated a widely-circulated rumor has not helped matters and is giving false hope to migrants, especially those from Haiti.

“This false rumor started floating around in a shelter that residents were going to be given humanitarian parole and that led to crowds outside other shelters hoping to be taken in to begin their case,” he said. “You see it more with people from Haiti, we see them outside shelters.”

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The vast majority of LGBT migrants being allowed into the U.S. are from Mexico and Central America and are getting “conditional liberty,” according to Lucero.

“They are entering the United States, but once they get to their destinations, they will have hearings and must prove they have a valid reason to remain in the United States. If they don’t, they’ll be deported to their home country,” he said.