Biden introduces asylum restrictions, which have been months ago in development, “take back control” of the border

Seung MIN KIM, COLLEEN LONG and STEPHEN GROVES

04/06/2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday unveiled plans to enact immediate significant restrictions on migrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border as the White House tries to neutralize immigration as a political liability ahead of the November elections .

The long-anticipated presidential declaration would stop migrants from receiving asylum once U.S. officials deem that the southern border is in crisis. The Democratic president was contemplating an unilateral decision for many months following the failure of an agreement between bipartisan border security in Congress which the majority of Republican lawmakers opposed at the urging of the former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential candidate.

Biden declared that he prefers to take more long-term action via legislation, but “Republicans have left me no choice.” Instead Biden claimed Biden was acting by himself in order to “gain control of the border” and he also said “I believe immigration has always been the lifeblood of America.”

Trump “told the Republicans … that he didn’t want to fix the issue, he wanted to use it to attack me,” Biden declared. “It was a cynical, extremely cynical, political move and a complete disservice to the American people who are looking for us not to weaponize the border but to fix it.”

Trump On his own, took to his Twitter account to target Biden yet again on immigration, declaring that Biden was a Democrat has “totally surrendered our Southern Border” and that his decision is “all for show” ahead of the July 27 debate.

The order will take effect once the number of border crossings between ports of entry exceeds the 2,500 mark daily, as per officials from the senior administration. This means that Biden’s directive should be implemented immediately, as it is evident that the average daily rates are rising. The average each day, the number of arrests made for crossings to Mexico were at their lowest in January 2021. This was the month that Biden was inaugurated. The last time border confrontations dropped to 1500 per day was in July of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic.

The restrictions would remain in place for two weeks after daily numbers of encounters are less than 1,500 per day at the ports of entry which is less than the average of seven days. The numbers were first published on Monday by The Associated Press on Monday.

AP Audio: Biden says he’s restricting asylum to ‘take control’ over the border.

AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports that President Biden will announce plans to impose an immediate and significant limitation on immigrants who want to claim asylum on Southern border.

Homeland Security said increased enforcement in conjunction with Mexico after high-level bilateral talks in December have reduced crossings that are illegal, but it has “likely to be less effective over time,” leading to the need for further actions. “Smuggling networks are adaptable, responding to changes put in place,” the department wrote in a new federal rule released Tuesday.

The department anticipates that the number of the number of people arrested for illegal crossings could rise to an average daily of 6,700 during July to September.

After this order takes effect, those who are at the border, but don’t express a the fear about returning to countries of origin are exempt from immediate removal out of United States, within a timeframe of a few days, or perhaps hours. They could be subject to sanctions which include a five-year suspension from returning to in the U.S. or even criminal prosecution.

In addition, anyone who reveals the fear of or has an intention to apply for asylum will be checked by an U.S. asylum officer but with a higher level of scrutiny than the current screening. If they are screened and are deemed to be eligible, they will be able to pursue less restrictive forms of human rights protection, like those under the U.N. Convention Against Torture.

“We’re troubled to see this administration raise the bar on asylum seekers who are coming to our southern border and exercising a legal right,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah who is the president and director Global Refuge. Global Refuge. “Certainly no one wants to see migrants who may be coming to seek a better life or for economic opportunity game the asylum system, but we see in our clients and in other immigrants people who are fleeing the most dire of circumstances at a time of unprecedented global migration and believe that the U.S. is still a beacon of hope and refuge.”

It is also concerned about the U.N.’s refugee agency also voiced its concern that the new policies will not allow the right to asylum to many who require international protection. The agency stated in a statement that it is aware it is true that the U.S. is facing challenges when it comes to dealing with the large amount of refugees arriving at its borders, but it urged its United States “to uphold its international obligations and urge the government to reconsider restrictions that undermine the fundamental right to seek asylum.”

On Tuesday at the border there were no evidence of an immediate effects.

Iselande Peralta is an Haitian mother living in an refugee camp located in Reynosa, Mexico, with her son who is three, told she believed that the U.S. was within its rights to apply new restrictions. Peralta has tried for 10 months to make an appointment with U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s online application that is called CBP One. Peralta 26 doesn’t be averse to crossing illegally and believes CBP One her best option.

“Even even if I were insane I would not swim across the river. What would I do with a child who is as young as he is? I’m ready to wait,” she added.

Biden’s decision comes as the numbers of immigrants who have been spotted at the border has decreased steadily since December, however top administration officials believe they are excessive and could rise during warmer weather, which is normal.

There are many questions and issues that remain over how Biden’s directive could be carried out.

For instance, the administration have reached an arrangement with Mexico that states that Mexico will accept as many as 30,000 citizens each month who are from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela when they are refused entry into to the U.S., and senior administration officials claim that the policy will continue in the wake of this decision. It is not clear what happens to citizens from other countries that are not allowed entry by Biden’s orders.

Four officials from the administration who requested not revealing their identities to journalists, acknowledged that Biden’s aim of deporting immigrants rapidly is complicated due to the absence of funds from Congress to accomplish this. There are also legal limitations regarding detention of families of migrants and said it will continue to adhere to those obligations.

The authority invoked by Biden is a result of the provisions of Section 212(f) in the Immigration and Nationality Act, which permits a president to restrict entry for certain immigrants if their presence is considered “detrimental” to the national interests. Senior officials were confident that they will be able to carry out Biden’s directive in spite of threats from prominent legal organizations to bring lawsuits against the decision.

“We intend to sue,” Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who had success in arguing similar legal challenges in the years when Trump became president. “A ban on asylum is illegal, just as it was when Trump unsuccessfully tried it.”

Senior administration officials insist that Biden’s idea differs starkly from the proposal of Trump who relied on the same provisions in the Immigration and Nationality Act that Biden uses, such as Trump’s 2017 decision to exclude Muslims from Muslim-majority nations and his actions in 2018 to crack down on asylum.

Biden’s orders outline a number of categories of migrants that would be exempted for humanitarian motives, such as those who are those who are victims of human trafficking, minors without a companion and those with serious medical situations.

The directive will also exempt immigrants who schedule appointments with border officials at points of entry by using CBP One. CBP One app. Around 1,450 appointments are scheduled each day with the app, which was launched in the year before to allow immigrants to apply for asylum.

Many immigration advocates fear that Biden’s proposal will only add to the already long backlog of immigrants waiting for appointments through the app, particularly in cases where immigration officials do not have the necessary funds.

It can be a challenge in the hands of border officers to speedily get rid of migrants, especially when a lot of agents are already aiding in shelters as well as other humanitarian tasks according to Jennie Murray, chairperson of the National Immigration Forum.

“Customs and Border Protection cannot keep up with apprehensions as it is right now because they don’t have enough personnel so it would cause more disorder,” she added.

Republicans have dismissed Biden’s move as an “political stunt” meant to display a more stern approach to immigration enforcement ahead of the upcoming election.

“He tried to convince us all for all this time that there was no way he could possibly fix the mess,” GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson said at a news conference. “Remember that he engineered it.”

In a conference call organized by the Trump campaign team, Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to Trump’s White House who orchestrated his most controversial immigration policies, along with Tom Homan, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Trump administration, stated that Biden’s directive would basically allow 2,500 immigrants into the country per day and would legalize unlawful entry of people into the U.S.

“The only reason they’re doing this is because of the election,” Homan declared. “They’ve had three and a half years to take action and done nothing.”

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said legislation would have been more effective however “Republican intransigence has forced the president’s hand.”

___

Associated Press writers Will Weissert in Washington, Michelle L. Price in New York, Valerie Gonzalez in Reynosa, Mexico, and Kirsten Grieshaber from Berlin contributed to this report.