The Biden administration announces a new border crackdown

In an effort to prevent a wave of immigrants from breaking out at the southern border when a pandemic measure is lifted in May, the Biden administration on Tuesday announced its toughest policy yet to crack down on illegal entry.

The proposed rule, which was opened to 30 days of public comment before becoming effective, presumes that migrants do not qualify for asylum if they entered the country illegally, a significant reversal of the country’s traditional policy toward people fleeing persecution in other countries.

It would allow expedited deportation of anyone who failed to seek protection from another country while en route to the United States or did not notify border authorities through a mobile app of their plans to seek asylum.

Administration officials said the policy would go into effect May 11 with the expected termination that day of Title 42, a Trump-era health emergency law that allowed border authorities to quickly expel immigrants back to Mexico. After that, the new rule will remain in effect for two years.

President Biden took office vowing to restore a humane approach to the border crisis after his predecessor, former President Donald J. Trump, introduced a series of harsh immigration policies, including separating migrant children from their parents. But as the Biden administration struggles to quell the wave of migrants fleeing economic ruin in their countries, including Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, it has resorted to more restrictive measures.

The decision, announced jointly by the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, was rebuked by human rights advocates who said the policy mirrored an earlier restriction that came under fire under Mr Trump’s refusal to grant asylum to most immigrants who did not initially apply for it. . Mexico or another country along their way. This policy has been overturned by several federal courts.

Many immigrants do not apply for asylum in Mexico, preferring to try their luck in the United States. The new policy was expected to present a formidable barrier to those hoping to submit US applications.

Biden administration proposed rule “It will put asylum seekers back in danger, separate families, and cost lives, as advocates have been asserting for weeks,” said Jane Bentrott, an attorney with the Justice Action Center, an immigrant rights nonprofit.

“It directly contradicts President Biden’s campaign promises to repeal Trump’s racist and xenophobic policies, and to give all people seeking safety a fair chance to obtain asylum,” she said.

On a call with reporters, administration officials said the failure of Congress to pass an overhaul of the country’s outdated immigration laws and a slew of lawsuits from Republican-led states have prevented the government from effectively managing the southern border. They said raising Title 42 in May could lead to large crowds trying to cross the border.

The regulation is designed “to help ensure safe, orderly, and humane treatment of immigrants once Title 42 is finally lifted,” said one of the officials on the call, whose organizers spoke on condition of anonymity.

Officials said the “new criteria” are intended to discourage people who do not have a legitimate need for U.S. protection from coming to the border while allowing others to seek asylum “outside the United States or in a country they are transiting through,” one of the officials said. .

The demographics of border crossings have changed in recent years with the arrival of increasing numbers of non-Mexicans who are more likely to file asylum claims. Because it can take years to process and deport those who are ultimately found not eligible to receive US protection, applicants have been allowed to stay in the country and obtain a work permit, a situation that motivates more people to come.

Last year, border authorities recorded more than two million encounters with migrants, which is a record. Many of those who objected were repeat transients, already expelled under Title 42. The chaotic scenes of migrants wading across the Rio Grande in Texas drew sharp criticism from Republican governors, who said the Biden administration had lost control of the border.

The administration’s plan to repeal Title 42 has drawn legal challenges from Republican-led states that have argued its demise would lead to a rise in crossings and chaos in border communities.

Meanwhile, the government has increasingly resorted to health emergency policy to contain the recent influx of migrants.

While still vowing to end the measure, the administration has extended it to immigrants from more countries. In early January, it unveiled a plan to use it to bring back a new flood of transients from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, while simultaneously creating a program that would enable citizens of those countries to apply for parole to enter the United States from their own country. Countries of origin if they have a financial sponsor.

Since the inception of this program, total illegal crossings have decreased by 97 percent. On the call with reporters Tuesday, administration officials said the rollback proved that pairing a humanitarian program with punitive measures with consequences for illegal transients was effective.

In its proposed regulation, the administration said projections are that lifting Title 42 could lead to an increase in border crossings to 13,000 encounters per day, from last year’s high of about 7,000 per day, and the absence of policy changes and a mechanism to quickly remove those who arrive without permission.

He cited the growing impact of climate change on immigration, political instability in many countries, an evolving recovery from the pandemic, and the uncertainty created by border litigation among the factors prompting migrants to try to cross into the United States.

Under the proposed rule, asylum seekers who arrive at an official port of entry and claim asylum would be allowed entry if they meet initial criteria and use a mobile app, known as CBP One, to schedule an appointment with US authorities to review their application. But those crossing illegally between ports of entry, if caught, would have to prove that they were denied safe harbor while crossing into the US, such as from Guatemala or Mexico, to be allowed entry.

The mobile app, which aims to provide an orderly and streamlined system for processing asylum seekers, has been in use since January, but the system has been saddled with overwhelming demand and plagued by glitches since tens of thousands of migrants housed in shelters on the Mexican side of the border began using it.

Migrants would get up before dawn to go online, hoping to increase their chances of getting a date through the app. Many immigrant advocates said the vast majority fail to secure a place on the virtual waiting list that opens at 6 a.m. and offers appointments exactly two weeks later.

At a shelter in Tijuana, across from San Diego, 150 families recently tried to make an appointment, according to Lindsay Toczylowski, an immigration attorney who was on site.

“With life on the line, they got pop-ups,” said Ms. Toczylowski. Screenshots reviewed by The New York Times read, “time period full,” “system error,” or “unable to verify location,” even though the immigrants were at the border where applicants should apply. She said the messages appeared over and over again.

At another shelter the lawyer visited, only two out of 240 people managed to secure an appointment when they tried early that morning.

“It’s almost like a lottery,” said Ms. Toczylowski, executive director of the Immigrant Advocates Rights Center, a California nonprofit law firm that services asylum seekers. “You have to win a ticket to be able to apply for protection in the United States.”