The new rules, which amend the Biden administration’s June restrictions, allow officials to cut off asylum requests when they deem the border is overwhelmed.
The Biden administration said on Sept. 30 that it is making its asylum restrictions at the southern border stricter, as illegal immigration remains a source of scrutiny for the president’s policy agenda.
Under the president’s proclamation issued in June, the federal government could restrict asylum requests after more than 2,500 illegal immigrants had been apprehended at the border per day on average for seven consecutive days. That restriction would lift after the number dropped below 1,500 per day for a week.
The new restrictions prevent illegal immigrants from being able to request asylum whenever the Secretary of Homeland Security deems the southern border has become overwhelmed. The restriction will be lifted when the secretary “has made a factual determination that there have been 28 consecutive calendar days in which the 7-consecutive-calendar-day average of encounters is less than 1,500,” the new order states.
The administration is also now counting all children in that equation before previously only counting children from Mexico.
The changes take effect on Oct. 1.
While immigration advocates criticized the last set of asylum restrictions that President Joe Biden announced in June, his administration has credited them for lowering the number of illegal crossings at the southern border.
Former President Donald Trump has blamed the Biden administration’s immigration strategy for creating chaos at the southern border, particularly after Biden rescinded many Trump-era policies upon taking office in 2021. Trump has promised to stem the flow of illegal immigration in his first week of office if reelected, potentially through executive action.
He has also pledged to carry out a large-scale deportation operation to remove illegal immigrants, as well as begin border wall construction again.
Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris visited the southern border in Douglas, Arizona, on Sept. 27 and called for tightening restrictions on asylum.
By Jacob Burg
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