Monitoring Desk
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden’s administration proposed strict new restrictions on asylum seekers, hoping to prevent a surge of migrants on the southern border once Covid-related controls were lifted.
According to the new rules, migrants who arrive at the border and cross into the United States will no longer be eligible for asylum. Instead, they must first apply online through a Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) app or apply for asylum in one of the countries they pass through on their way to the US border.
These procedures could be highly burdensome to the 200,000 people who attempt to cross the border from Mexico into the United States each month. Most are from Central and South America, seeking asylum due to poverty and violence in their home countries.
Migrant rights advocates slammed the new rules as inhumane and illegal, comparing them to the tough asylum bans announced by former president Donald Trump in 2018-2019, which were eventually overturned by courts. However, the Biden administration stated that, in the absence of action of the US Congress, this is the only way to deal with the border.
US official’s statement
On the condition of anonymity, an administration official stated that the failure of the US Congress to act would result in mass chaos and disorder at the border. The new rules seek a system already in place for migrants from Ukraine, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Haiti, who must apply via the CBP One app and schedule an appointment with immigration officials. If they do not, they are not eligible to seek asylum. The rules are still draught, pending a 30-day public comment period.
However, an official stated that they would be implemented once the current Title 42 program, which uses Covid-19 pandemic controls to restrict immigration tightly, is repealed. This is scheduled for May 11. Department of Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement that “we are strengthening the availability of lawful, orderly pathways for migrants to enter the United States, at the same time implementing new consequences on those who fail to use processes made accessible to them by the United States and its regional partners.
Officials said the new rules were temporary and would expire after 24 months without saying what would replace them. Pro-migrant groups condemned the new measure, comparing it to Trump’s moves to make it nearly impossible to enter the United States on an asylum request.
Abby Maxman, president of Oxfam America, said that “this sweeping asylum ban would shut the door to countless refugees seeking safety and protection in the United States.” She said this policy is illegal and immoral and will exact a frightening human toll on children, women, and men seeking safety.
