The Trump administration’s approach is quite similar to a new ban on asylum seekers that the Biden administration proposed.
The new regulation would bar immigrants from requesting asylum in the United States if they do not use currently open legal channels for doing so and do not do so in a third nation. According to Biden admin. representatives, the regulation was put up in response to the repeal of Title 42 immigration limitations. Additionally, it is quite similar to a Trump admin. regulation that prohibited asylum seekers who did not first apply for refuge in another nation.
The Departments of Homeland Security and Justice released a notice of proposed rulemaking on Tuesday, saying that it would “encourage immigrants to avail themselves of safe, lawful, and orderly pathways into the U.S., or instead to seek asylum or any other safeguards in countries in which they travel through, thus also reducing dependence on human smuggling channels that exploit immigrants for their financial gain. It would accomplish this by establishing a legal basis of asylum ineligibility for specific noncitizens who neither use a legal, safe, and orderly route to the U.S. nor seek asylum or other forms of protection in a nation they pass through.”
The two agencies stated, “In the absence of such a step, which would be imposed on a temporary basis, the number of migrants likely to travel without permission to the U.S. is expected to climb dramatically, to a degree that risks undermining the Depts.’ continued capacity to safely, efficiently, and humanely administer and enforce U.S. immigration law, which includes the asylum system, in the face of unusually difficult conditions.”
The DOJ and DHS expressed confidence that the new restriction will result in fewer migrants traveling across the southern border, weakening the influence of networks that traffic migrants and relieving pressure on already overcrowded border facilities. The agencies stated that this decrease in numbers will guarantee that the processing of migrants “is done in an humane, effective, and efficient manner.”
The new limits will take effect on May 11th following a period for public comment, which is also the day the Biden administration plans to call an end to the COVID-19 national and public health emergency. The restrictions imposed by Title 42, which permit authorities to turn away migrants due to concerns about public health, are also expected to expire at that time.
The new limitations are quite similar to an asylum ban put in place by the Trump administration. These limitations, sometimes known as “asylum bans” and “transit bans,” have been fiercely contested in court since the start of former President Trump’s administration. The Trump administration’s bans were overturned by the courts in 2018 and 2020; the final rule went into effect on Trump’s final day in office, but a judge also overturned that.
The new regulations were criticized by Dems. and immigration activists because they were similar to Trump’s proposals. The Biden administration, however, rejected those charges and pointed out that they had offered alternate channels for refugees to apply for asylum. Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of DHS, denied the similarities in January and claimed that his strategy was founded on “a rebuttable presumption of ineligibility. And there’s a clear distinction between the two,” he added, according to The Hill.