Joe Biden Announces New Asylum Restrictions for Migrants at U.S.-Mexico Border
President Joe Biden has revealed a new policy that aimed to limit access to asylum for migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. This means that migrants would have to apply for protections in another country or else be denied asylum. ALLISON DINNER/AFP via Getty Images

President Joe Biden has revealed a new policy to limit access to asylum for migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. This means that migrants would have to apply for protection in another country or else be denied asylum.

There would be a public comment period for this new policy to take place, and it would last for 30 days. However, according to USA Today, the Biden administration has not yet set a specific date for it to go into effect.

It is expected to replace the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention policy, known as Title 42, that allowed the U.S. government to expel migrants and suspend the right to seek asylum under U.S. law and international treaty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Critics of the move have pointed out that this new policy is similar to the one that required migrants seeking asylum in the United States to first apply for these protections in three Central American countries. That previous policy was implemented by Donald Trump. and critics are calling this new one a "Trump era policy."

Joe Biden Wants Migrants To Seek Legal Pathways To Get Asylum in the United States

The Biden administration knew that this would get a lot of backlash from migrant groups and announced that they were doing this measure out of "necessity," with an administration official saying, "To be clear, this was not our first preference or even our second."

The new proposed regulation stated that it would "encourage migrants to avail themselves of lawful, safe, and orderly pathways into the United States, or otherwise to seek asylum or other protection in countries through which they travel, thereby reducing reliance on human smuggling networks that exploit migrants for financial gain,"

According to CNN, administration officials are now saying that this new policy will aim at having migrants seek legal pathways for asylum. This includes a recently-implemented parole program for Venezuelans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Cubans that saw a huge dip in the numbers of migrants coming in from those countries.

Hispanic Caucus, Migrant Groups, Criticize New Joe Biden Policy

Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus stated that they were blindsided by this new policy and criticized Biden for the lack of engagement. Other members of congress also slammed the move, including Democrats Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York and Pramila Jayapal of Washington. They released a joint statement expressing their disappointment at the proposal.

Several migrant groups are now threatening to sue the Biden administration policy. Keren Zwick, director of litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center, stated that just as they did with the similar Trump policy, they would seek to block it as it would "unlawfully deprive access to asylum based on the manner of entry and/or transit route."

However, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas denied that it was like the Trump-era proposal, which was proposed by hard-liner Stephen Miller. "This is not a Trump era-policy," the secretary told MSNBC, as this was not a transit ban because they "provided a lawful path for individuals to try to seek entry."

READ MORE: Venezuelan Migrant Numbers at U.S.-Mexico Border Drop by 90%

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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