President Biden is taking executive action on Tuesday to authorize US immigration officials to deport large numbers of migrants without processing their asylum claims, the White House said, announcing what could be the most restrictive border policy in a Democratic president in recent history.
Mr Biden's aggressive move will suspend the processing of asylum applications between official points of entry along the southern border, allowing US authorities to more quickly turn away and deport migrants who enter the country illegally. country, administration officials said on a call with reporters anticipating the order. The president is scheduled to speak at 2 p.m. at the White House.
The partial ban on asylum applications will take effect almost immediately, officials said. Regular asylum processing will only resume 14 days after the homeland security secretary determines that the weekly average of daily illegal border crossings has fallen below 1,500. The proclamation could be reactivated if the weekly average of daily crossings between ports of entry exceeds 2,500.
To the dismay of migrant advocates, the seismic policy shift will seek to overturn US asylum law, which allows migrants on US soil to apply for humanitarian protection, even if they cross the border illegally . But Biden administration officials have argued that the asylum system is straining under the weight of more than 3 million pending applications, incentivizing migrants to come to the US because it takes years for their cases to be decided .
What Biden's immigration order does
Mr. Biden is signing a proclamation temporarily suspending the entry of most migrants at the southern border while the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security issue regulations to implement his directive. The measures are expected to come into effect at midnight on Tuesday.
Migrants who cross the US-Mexico border between legal points of entry when the order is in effect will be denied asylum and may be “immediately removed” to Mexico or their countries of origin , officials said. The administration, one official added, plans to carry out these deportations “within days, if not hours.”
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Only migrants who affirmatively express a fear of persecution or torture will be screened by U.S. asylum officials, officials said. But they will only be screened for lesser forms of protection, not asylum, and will have to pass interviews with higher standards to avoid being quickly deported.
The asylum crackdown will not apply to unaccompanied children, those with acute medical conditions or fleeing imminent harm, and migrants who use legal channels to enter the United States, such as the smartphone app-driven system government agent known as CBP One. The administration will continue to process approximately 1,500 migrants at ports of entry under the CBP One process.
To justify the policy change, the administration cites a 1950s law known as 212(f) that empowers the president to suspend the entry of aliens when the executive branch determines that their arrival is “detrimental” to to the interests of the United States. That same law became infamous under the Trump administration, which invoked it to sharply restrict legal and illegal immigration, including travel from certain Muslim-majority countries.
Officials said the partial asylum ban would apply to so-called extracontinental migrants, such as those from China, who have been traveling to the U.S. border in record numbers in recent years. But they did not say that Mexico had agreed to take them back, raising the specter that some migrants will still be released with court notices as some, including China, limit or refuse US deportations.
A great political and political change
Mr. Biden's policy is based on one of the pillars of a bipartisan border security agreement that failed twice in Congress because of widespread Republican opposition, giving administration officials a chance to argue that they are acting unilaterally on one of America's top concerns in the absence of congressional action.
While devastating in nature, the announcement will not completely “close” or “close” the southern border, as asylum processing and legal trade and travel will continue unhindered at official ports of entry.
In many ways, Mr. Biden's drastic border pivot stems from the intense political pressure he has faced from Republicans and some Democrats over immigration, one of his worst voting issues.
But it's also a response to the reality on the ground along the US-Mexico border, where US officials have reported record levels of migrant arrivals, including more than 2 million in each of the past two years. This year, migrant arrests are down more than 50% from record highs recorded late last year, in part due to a months-long campaign by Mexico to prevent migrants from reaching the US border.
An administration official said Tuesday's announcement would “strengthen the asylum system, preventing it from being overwhelmed and supported by those without legitimate claims.”
Andrea Flores, a former Biden administration official, denounced the president's move, saying it could set a dangerous precedent.
“If the president now claims that he can close asylum whenever he wants, even after the number of border crossings has fallen by more than 50%, this precedent gives future presidents the pretext to suspend any immigration pathways to United States,” Flores said.
Sara Cook contributed to this report.
Camilo Montoya-Galvez
