The government of Democratic President of the United States Joe Biden proposed this Tuesday new restrictions that limit access to asylum for migrants on the southern border of that country with Mexico, forcing them to request it in the countries through which they transit or to request an appointment online.
The new rule would take effect when Title 42 is lifted on May 11a health regulation activated by the administration of Republican Donald Trump in 2020 with the declared purpose of stopping the Covid-19 pandemic and which allows the vast majority of migrants to be blocked at the border, reported the AFP news agency.
Rule It is already being applied for quotas for migrants from Ukraine, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti.
“We are strengthening the availability of legal and orderly pathways for migrants to come to the United States, while also proposing more consequences for those who do not use the processes that the United States and its regional partners have made available to them,” National Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement, AFP reported.
US government officials say that these are “temporary rules”, without specifying what would replace them.
Migrant advocacy groups condemned the new measure, comparing it with the one that Trump tried to activate to stop the caravans arriving from Central America in 2019. The courts prevented it.
“This sweeping ban on asylum will close the door on countless refugees seeking safety and security in the United States,” says Abby Maxman, president of Oxfam America.
“This policy is illegal, immoral and will have a terrifying human cost. for children, women and men seeking safety,” he added.
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), migrants will not be eligible for asylum unless they have authorization, have used the CBP One app to schedule a time and place to appear at a port of entry (unless they can show that it was impossible due to a language barrier, illiteracy or technical failure) or were denied asylum in a transit country.
Unaccompanied children would also be exempted of the presumption of “ineligibility for asylum”.
There are more exceptions such as “acute medical emergencies” or “extreme and imminent threats to your life or safety.”
The Biden government claims that it is the only means it has to deal with migration at the border, because Congress does not agree on an immigration policy.
the republican opposition accuses Biden of having lost “effective control of the border”through which an average of 8,500 migrants per day tried to cross in December, most of them with the intention of seeking asylum.
“This administration will not allow mass chaos and disorder at the border because Congress failed to act,” a government official who requested anonymity said Tuesday.