The humanitarian crisis of migration will reach Alaska
by carlos matías
Let no one doubt it. Sooner or later, the humanitarian crisis of migration at the U.S.-Mexico border will reach Alaska, mainly Anchorage. This is the opinion of two expert lawyers, Nicolas A. Olano, dedicated exclusively to immigration legal matters, and Anna E. Taylor, of the Alaska Institute for Justice, in statements to SOL DE MEDIANOcHE.
The image of an abandoned immigrant child who had been walking for hours, lost and alone, in a desert area of Texas full of snakes and dangerous animals, and who in tears asked for help, desperate, to the border police, has gone around the world and has shocked millions of people. But his tragedy is the one experienced daily by more than twenty thousand minors, who remain in the custody of Joe Biden’s Administration without knowing very well what to do with them.
“It is not the goal of the Biden Administration to separate families,” says Olano. “The problem is that the minors are being sent with coyotes alone and, therefore, must be housed while contact is made with family in the U.S., or they are placed with another family. The problem has many parts: poverty, the cartels that traffic people, the culture in Central America, etc...”
Human Trafficking The arrival of a Democrat to the White House has triggered a “call effect” on immigration. It has been of little use that the new president of the United States has asked migrants to “not come” to the country, after the four years of marginalization, contempt, mistreatment and even terror instilled in migrants by ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service under the directives of the previous president, Donald Trump.
“Anything is better than Trump. That in itself attracts people. The real problem lies in the fact that human trafficking is still very lucrative and not being prosecuted as it should be. We are facing a humanitarian crisis”.
Nicolas A. Olano, an immigration expert with Nations Law Group, a law firm dedicated exclusively to this area, explains. “Legal and illegal immigrants are constantly arriving in Alaska,” he adds. “Of course, because of the remoteness and the fact that it is separate from the 48 contiguous states, the number is smaller.”
They are still being deported “The Biden Administration in Alaska deports immigrants back to their home countries in the same way they are deported in other states of the Union,” Olano adds.
The news these days underscores that, despite the humanitarian crisis mentioned by this lawyer when referring to the concentration of migrants on the border with Mexico, the U.S. Federal Government continues to expel thousands of them from its territory every day.
Border Patrol agents work day and night along the Rio Grande, through which migrants continue to arrive, despite the fact that the border remains closed. The agents invoke Title 42 of the U.S. Constitution, which mandates preserving the welfare and public health of U.S. citizens.
Xenophobic policy This has prompted the Nexos Migrant Observatory to accuse Joe Biden of continuing Trump’s “xenophobic policy.” Curiously, the former Republican president did not deport as many migrants during his term as did his predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama, who was called the “deporter in chief” for the historic number of people expelled from the country during his presidency. A presidency during which Biden served as vice president.
Many of those migrants come without the proper documentation. “If they come with work or family petitions (visas), they generally don’t have any problems,” explains Nicolas Olano. “People who do not have documents and who arrive in Alaska generally arrive already processed from the Mexican border. That is to say; the first stage of the process has already been completed (entering the U.S.), since they can access transportation internally.”
When an immigrant comes to Nations Law Group for advice and assistance, the actions taken by Nicolas A. Olano and his colleague, Lara E. Nations, depend on their situation.
“In the U.S., immigration refers to criminal and citizenship issues, in addition to legal presence in the country. So, we may be talking about bringing a family member to live in the country, securing employment through a visa, or avoiding deportation as a result of a criminal conviction. The success of these actions depends on the timing, the family and the individual situation of each person.”
Economic desperation How can this serious problem be avoided? What are the reasons for the Latin American population to want to come to the United States? Are they economic, political, social or a bit of everything? Olano answers that “a little bit of everything. The economic and social desperation in Central America,” for example.
The United States continues to be a “Land of Opportunity”, the famous “American Dream”. But “economic prosperity in the rest of the world has taken away some of that idea. Houses, cars, and scholarships are now available in countries where you couldn’t even live before. But even so, the U.S. represents money and economic prosperity in many cases. As long as there is poverty and inequality in the South, the U.S. will have an influx of legal and illegal migrants.”
“They will end up in Alaska” For Anna E. Taylor, also a lawyer and immigration expert, of the Alaska Institute for Justice, “the current border problems will eventually come to this state. Although we have not yet seen the effects of the current situation, I have no doubt that we will. The last time there was an increase in unaccompanied children crossing the border, it took a few months for the children to reach Alaska. Once the children arrived in Alaska, AIJ was able to work with them to get them a status that would allow them to have a safe and stable life in the United States. I want to reiterate that if anyone has immigration issues, they should contact AIJ.” The Alaska Institute for Justice “continues to provide direct representation in immigration matters to immigrants,” says Anna Taylor. “We prioritize cases related to crime victimization. Since many people are coming from Central America, fleeing violence, we prioritize those types of cases. We would encourage anyone in Alaska with immigration concerns to contact us to set up a consultation to evaluate their cases. There are a few different forms of immigration relief that may be available to immigrants coming across the border.”
