The Biden administration rolled out new asylum restrictions last week, largely barring people who traveled through other countries on their way to the U.S.-Mexico border from applying for asylum in the United States.
The move further solidified a trend of hardening border and asylum requirements as the administration grows increasingly eager to show voters uneasy over immigration that it is taking a harder stance on border security.
“These policies will fail,” said Margaret Cargioli, directing attorney at Immigrant Defenders Law Center, adding that an anti-asylum policy functions as little more than a sop to isolationists.
“I think it’s going to collapse like it’s collapsed in the past, and at some point we’re hoping that humane, sensible solutions will be taken more seriously and we can refocus on more important matters.”
The new rules, which toughen restrictions announced in June, bar migrants from being granted asylum when U.S. officials deem that the southern border is overwhelmed. They also mark a major departure from decades-long protocols and mirror the restrictions put into place by the Trump administration.
Cargioli said despite narratives about a “border crisis,” which often come with vivid, racist imagery about “hordes” and “swarms” of people trying to enter the United States, the true crisis at the border is for the individuals and families who are desperate to reach safety.
“One thing that we have to keep in mind is that a lot of the rhetoric manipulates people’s ideas, disregarding the reality on the ground… this is a burden-sharing humanitarian circumstance. It is not a new problem.”
Under the previous rules, the U.S. could restrict asylum access when the number of people trying to enter the country between official border crossings hit 2,500 per day. The daily numbers had to average below 1,500 per day for a week in order for the restrictions to be lifted.
Under the new terms, crossings must be below 1,500 for nearly a month before the restrictions can be lifted. The administration is also counting all children toward that number, whereas previously only children from Mexico were counted.
These changes have made it much more difficult to lift restrictions and allow people entering the country between the official border crossings to apply for asylum in the United States.
Lilian Serrano is director of Southern Border Communities Coalition, an umbrella organization that advocates for human rights along the U.S.-Mexico border. She said that while the new ruling is not a surprise, the original change in direction a few months ago came as a shock.
“There were multiple conversations with organizations and we all thought that we were achieving campaign promises — then we started seeing a shift in the approach as the election started getting closer,” Serrano said.
“Monday’s announcement was just a reinforcement of that.”
Serrano said that the announcement and preceding moves were a frustrating reversal of President Joe Biden’s campaign promises.
The administration has touted its asylum restrictions, saying they have led to major drops in the number of migrants coming to the southern border. The Department of Homeland Security said Monday that since the changes were announced in June, the daily number of people encountered by Border Patrol between the legal border crossings has fallen by more than half.
The UN Refugee Agency released a statement last week reiterating “profound concern” about the changes.
“Every person seeking asylum must be granted access to safety and afforded the opportunity to have their claims individually and fairly assessed before deportation or removal,” the statement said.
“Limiting or blocking such access is a violation of international refugee law and the humanitarian principles to which the United States has long been a leader.”
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and others from his party have used conspiracy theories about “invasions” and other weaponized rhetoric to hammer away at the high numbers of people who have come to the southern border under the Biden administration, saying the White House and Harris have not done enough to restrict migration.
Those lies and the political pressure that they are used to advance are actively harming democracy, said Serrano.
“I think it’s important for us to make the statement that as a country we don’t want to head into a position where the government gets to decide which human rights we’re protecting and who is granted human rights,” she said.
“Our leaders are choosing politics over what’s right, and we cannot allow that.”
Associated Press contributed to this report.
