The Biden administration is to begin denying asylum to those at the southern border who have not first applied online or sought asylum in a country they passed through.
The rule is seen as a means of limiting the number of migrants at the border while still offering asylum to those with serious claims.
Exceptions may be made for a migrant with “an acute medical emergency” or is facing an “imminent and extreme threat to life or safety, such as an imminent threat of rape, kidnapping, torture or murder,” according to the rule.
According to Jeremy Konyndyk, the president of Refugees International, the Biden rule is “putting border politics ahead of the safety of refugees.”
Reporting from Newsmax:
U.S. officials are bracing for large numbers of migrants who may try to cross the border this week, possibly to circumvent the new rules. Others were waiting until after Title 42 goes away, thinking their chances might be better. Once the change happens, migrants caught crossing illegally will not be allowed to return for five years, and they can face criminal prosecution if they do. The administration said in the new rule that as many as 11,000 migrants per day could try to cross the border after Title 42 lifts, absent any changes. Roughly 24,000 law enforcement officers were stationed along the 1,951-mile (3,140-kilometer) border with Mexico. An additional 1,500 active-duty military troops are being sent to back up U.S. Customs and Border Protection but will not interact with migrants. And 2,500 National Guard troops are already there, tasked to help out CBP.
