A large number of critics of the Biden administration’s lax immigration practices have been instrumental in putting pressure on immigration officials to use what is referred as Title 42 - a measure first implemented by the Trump administration in March of 2020. Title 42 gives border agencies greater latitude to swiftly expel migrants instead of processing them under immigration laws.
However, on the flip side, asylum seekers with credible claims of fearing persecution do not have their claims investigated by US officials and face deportation from the United States.
Before of the Biden administration’s migrant removal operations, most Colombian migrants were allowed to stay and seek asylum in the United States. However, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed that it has been operating the expulsion flights to Colombia since February.
Government data shows that 20 Colombians were expelled under Title 42 in February and 9,600 entered in US government custody along the southern border with Mexico that represents an all-time high.
In addition, US border officials have so far processed 23,985 Colombians in fiscal year 2022 - a 287 percent increase from the previous fiscal year.
Immigration officials have said the majority of Colombian migrants fly to Mexico and then try to enter the United States near Yuma, Arizona, where more than 70 percent of them were arrested and processed since February, according to US Customs and Border Protection.