Border strains leave Biden promise fraying

US president under criticism of falling short of handling migrant issues despite policy reversals

US President Joe Biden took office a year ago promising to tackle the migrant flows from across the frontier with Mexico, but the pandemic has complicated the task and the border remains porous.

After the pandemic resulted in the closure of the US' land borders to most crossings last spring, the number of migrants caught by border officers soared to record highs.

The US Border Patrol service reported more than 1.7 million encounters with migrants along the border with Mexico in the 2021 fiscal year, more than quadruple the number of the prior fiscal year and the highest annual total on record. The 2021 fiscal year ended on Sept 30.

The record influx of migrants at the southern border has prompted criticism of the Biden administration's policies across the political spectrum.

In its first months, the new Biden administration took dozens of actions to reverse the immigration policies implemented by his predecessor, Donald Trump.

Biden's efforts to address the immigration challenges at the border have included ending a highly controversial program known as Remain in Mexico, speeding up the reunification of migrant families, and halting construction of the wall along the border.

The Biden administration has faced an uphill battle trying to end the Trump-era policy Migrant Protection Protocols that require asylum-seekers to stay in Mexico until their US immigration court dates.

Biden ended the program when he took office last year, calling it inhumane because of the violence that migrants faced waiting in Mexico for their court hearings. But Texas and Missouri officials sued the administration in April over the suspension of the program, arguing that ending it put a burden on states because migrants use state services.

A federal judge ruled in August that it had to be reinstated. A federal appeals court upheld the ruling in December. The program, used by the Trump administration to send around 70,000 asylum-seekers to Mexico, has recently been restarted.

The Biden administration has said it still intends to end the program eventually, while promising humanitarian improvements, including expediting cases, improving access to attorneys and providing COVID-19 vaccines and shelter.