Joe Biden’s ‘open door’ to the United States: his administration has welcomed 500,000 LEGAL migrants into the U.S. over the past two years, staggering new statistics reveal

Joe Biden has allowed more than half a million migrants to enter the U.S. legally since taking office, the highest levels since the 1990s, according to unpublished data first obtained by CBS News.

The president’s administration has welcomed over 500,000 aliens over the past two years under programs designed to reduce the number of illegals who try to sneak across the border with Mexico.

CBS News reported the increase in legal arrivals came after U.S. officials used what is known as ‘parole authority’ to allow foreigners who lack visas to come to America.

It grants the U.S. government emergency powers to circumvent immigration red tape.   

Republican critics are angry at the sheer numbers who have come in, but also how the changes have been brought in without Congressional approval. 

Parole authority, for example, helped more than 160,000 refugees fleeing Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine enter the United States quickly, some of whom were sponsored by U.S. nationals.

The powers were also used to allow in 169,000 Latin American and Carribean migrants, 133,000 asylum-seekers who sought an immigration interview in Mexico and 77,000 Afghans who were airlifted after Biden pulled U.S. troops from the country. 

Most new arrivals in the United States need a visa or approved refugee status.

But a 1952 piece of legislation allows the administration to waive those rules for those who have an ‘urgent humanitarian’ cause or will bring a ‘significant public benefit’ to U.S. society. 

It means they can live in the U.S. legally without having to go through burdensome immigration procedures.

A similar move was made under the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations to welcome people fleeing persecution in Cold War Communist dictatorship. 

The Biden adminstration created a new app to make it easier for people to claim asylum legally

In October last year, Joe Biden’s administration created a mobile app for migrants in Mexico, CBP One, which allowed them to request legal entry into the country. 

In a lawsuit over the easing of restrictions for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans with U.S. sponsors, Republican-led states have branded the scheme as an ‘illegal program’ that imposes a financial burden on American communities due to social and medical services costs.

‘The Department of Homeland Security, under the false pretense of preventing aliens from unlawfully crossing the border between the ports of entry, has effectively created a new visa program — without the formalities of legislation from Congress,’ the states argued.

Biden has also come under fire from the GOP over his refusal to extend a Trump-era Covid diktat that made it easier to boot out illegals. 

Title 42, drawn from a near 80-year-old public health law, meant U.S. authorities could expel aliens from the country without hearing their asylum claims.  

Illegal immigration at the southern border has dropped to its lowest levels since just after President Biden took office.

Officials from the Customs and Border Protection say there were fewer than 145,000 encounters with unauthorized migrants in June along the frontier with Mexico. 

That is down from more than 200,000 per month at the start of this year.

But there are still believed to be at least 100,000 migrants waiting at the boundary hoping to get into the U.S. 

Homeland Security officials took a victory lap, crediting new policies they said have enticed some unauthorized migrants to enter through official border crossings, while scaring others away from entering at all.

“CBP’s mission is vast, and thanks to the dedication of our personnel and federal partners, we are delivering results that keep the American people safe,” said Troy Miller, acting CBP commissioner.