The U.S. government announced on Wednesday a new regulation that restricts access to asylum at the border with Mexico, replacing Title 42, a rule from the Trump administration that allowed for the immediate expulsion of migrants citing potential coronavirus spread.
The regulation, set to be published this Wednesday in the federal register, deems migrants crossing the border irregularly as “ineligible” for asylum if they did not seek protection in a third country during their journey to the U.S., officials explained during a call with reporters.
This new restriction is part of the measures that will govern the Mexico-U.S. border starting Thursday, when Title 42 is lifted, under which up to 2.5 million migrants have been expelled over the past three years.
Moving forward, the primary legal pathway for requesting asylum in the U.S. will be through the CBP One mobile application, allowing migrants to schedule appointments with authorities to present their cases.
The U.S. will offer approximately 1,000 daily appointments for asylum requests through this process, a number that, according to public officials, may increase “depending on the capacity” of immigration service workers.
Those who do not adhere to this process and choose to cross the border irregularly will be declared ineligible for asylum in the U.S., unless they have previously been denied in a third country or can prove they encountered technological or language barriers to access the application.
Individuals classified as ineligible for asylum could be deported, banned from entering the U.S. for five years, and may face criminal charges if they attempt to re-enter the U.S., officials explained.
Furthermore, they also detailed that the U.S. has increased the number of deportation flights to countries in the region and reached an agreement with Mexico to accept up to 30,000 deported migrants from Venezuela, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Cuba each month.
On the other hand, individuals arrested while crossing the border who are given the opportunity to present their asylum case through a “credible fear” interview must do so while in detention.
“We have hired and will be ready to deploy about 1,000 asylum officials to conduct credible fear interviews at the border starting Thursday,” explained another public official.
As part of the staffing reinforcement, the U.S. government will also deploy approximately 24,000 “law enforcement” officials at the border, in addition to about 400 “volunteers.”
Several non-governmental organizations, such as Human Rights Watch, have strongly criticized the newly enacted regulation during its public comment phase, describing it as a “violation of human rights and international law.”