The Biden administration’s new immigration policy has reduced the number of migrants allowed to apply for asylum at the southern border.
Since the start of “asylum ineligibility,” only 46% of single adult migrants who crossed the border have been allowed to claim asylum, compared to 83% from 2014 to 2019.
In a lawsuit led by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Biden administration argued that if the court blocked its asylum policy, border communities would be overwhelmed because of high border crossing rates, and the Department of Homeland Security could push to release migrants without court dates to avoid overcrowding.
Blas Nuñez-Neto, DHS’ assistant secretary of border and immigration policy, said, “The rule’s implementation has generated widespread understanding that DHS has strengthened consequences at the border for those who enter without authorization even as DHS has significantly increased lawful pathways and processes for noncitizens to come to the United States in a safe and orderly manner. The effect of these developments is that there has been an immediate reduction in encounters at the border.”
Since Title 42 was lifted last month, DHS has allowed migrants to be screened for asylum if they can prove they previously tried to apply for asylum in countries they passed through.
Border crossings have dropped from over 10,000 a day to roughly 3,500 a day since the end of Title 42.
Immigration advocacy groups have said the restriction on asylum violates federal law and the international obligations of the U.S.
“We don’t think that is part of an orderly approach to asylum, because it’s going to lead more people to feel that they’re going to have to put themselves back in the hands of the people smugglers,” International Rescue Committee CEO David Miliband said Tuesday, which is World Refugee Day, on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“No one has a right to live in the United States, but everyone has a right to apply for asylum and achieve some safety,” Miliband said.
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