The Biden administration has once again made asylum more challenging to obtain just as migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border are dropping to recent lows.
Advocates are protesting the move they say will exacerbate the already high numbers of migrant deaths by making migrants more vulnerable to drug cartels and predatory smugglers.
Anna Gallagher
“These restrictions reflect a troubling departure from our moral duty to uphold the right to seek asylum and protect those seeking refuge,” said Anna Gallagher, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network.
In June, Biden issued a directive denying asylum to migrants who enter the U.S. between ports of entry when daily border encounters exceed 2,500 and requiring the policy remain in effect until daily encounters drop below 1,500 for seven consecutive days. Daily encounters were above 3,500 when the president signed the order.
But with average daily encounters currently hovering around 1,900, the administration announced Sept. 30 the 1,500 ceiling must be maintained for 28 consecutive days instead of seven. “This increase in the number of days ensures that the drop in encounters is a sustained decrease and not the result of a short-term change,” the Department of Homeland Security explained.
And for the first time, unaccompanied minors will be included in average daily encounter totals, making the 1,500 threshold all the harder to reach.
“DHS has taken these actions to address irregular migration while repeatedly calling on Congress to act on bipartisan legislative solutions that would provide DHS with additional resources to secure our borders, enforce our federal laws, and build safe, orderly, and humane processes,” a statement said.
Since taking office, Biden has issued directives limiting asylum access to migrants who seek asylum first in other countries before applying in the U.S. Once at the border, they must arrange asylum appointments at ports of entry using the much-maligned and glitchy CPB One app. Migrants also are required to wait in Mexico as their cases proceed and must demonstrate a state of fear to border agents if they are to be granted asylum. Many of the controversial actions originated during huge spikes in illegal border crossings in late 2023 and early 2024. U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 249,741 encounters in December compared to 58,038 in August.
Advocates have roundly criticized Biden’s immigration policies as illegal and inhumane, and his latest proclamation has been no exception.
“These policies run counter to Catholic social teaching, which emphasizes concern for the vulnerable, as it leaves individuals and families at greater risk.”
“As Catholics, we are called to welcome the stranger and promote the dignity of every human being. These policies run counter to Catholic social teaching, which emphasizes concern for the vulnerable, as it leaves individuals and families at greater risk,” Gallagher said.
The expanded directive denies asylum seekers protection regardless of the merit of their claims and weakens the U.S. asylum process by making restrictions more difficult to lift, said Yael Schacher, director for the Americas and Europe for Refugees International.
Yael Schacher
“The asylum regulation issued by the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security yesterday will do little to ‘secure the border.’ Rather, it effectively denies eligibility for asylum to anyone unable to secure a CBP One appointment and betrays the legally enshrined right to seek asylum on U.S. soil.”
Schacher also lamented the rule’s continuation of the “manifest” fear test migrants must pass to receive the credible fear hearing needed to obtain asylum. “As Refugees International and others have documented, this policy has led CBP agents to disregard expressions of fear and arbitrarily expel asylum seekers without screenings for harm in likely violation of U.S. and international law.”
Another consequence of limited asylum access is the danger migrants subsequently face from the elements, smugglers and Mexican drug cartels, according to the Border Report: “A total of 176 migrants died in canals, mountains and the desert in El Paso and Southern New Mexico in the recently concluded fiscal year 2024. That’s 27 more than the previous record of 149 deceased migrants border agents encountered in FY 2023.”
Border Report and the Border Network for Human Rights attributed the increase to Biden’s June 4 executive order banning migrants who enter the country between ports of entry. “That’s why they get desperate and seek to enter the U.S. by any means available as soon as possible.”
Ignoring the drastically lower levels of daily migrant encounters at the border, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office recently announced it is tripling razor wire barriers to stop asylum seekers from entering the state.
“Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps created by the Biden-Harris administration’s refusal to secure the border,” the governor’s office said. “Every individual who is apprehended or arrested and every ounce of drugs seized would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation due to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ open border policies.”
The Haitian Bridge Alliance, on the other hand, blasted the White House late last month for its ongoing deportation of Haitian migrants, most of whom were seeking asylum.
Guerline Jozef
“We are appalled by the Biden administration’s decision to continue deportations to Haiti, despite the clear and present dangers these individuals face upon their return,” Executive Director Guerline Jozef said. “This policy reflects a blatant disregard for the very lives of Haitians seeking safety and protection, human rights and contradicts the administration’s stated values of compassion and fairness in immigration enforcement, which is unfortunately consistent with policies of the previous administration.”
But the stakes could be much higher if Donald Trump is reelected and follows through on his promise to deport millions of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., the National Immigration Forum Action Fund warned recently.
“Mass deportation would upend American life and society,” President Jennie Murray said. “Make no mistake: Families would be forced to separate. Millions of Americans live with family members who are unauthorized or have only temporary protections and would be in danger of deportation.”
The forum released a guide calculating the economic and human costs all Americans will face if mass deportation is carried out. “We recognize that our immigration system is out of date and that we need better ways to address migration’s challenges. The answer is for Republicans and Democrats to work together on pragmatic solutions that re-establish order and compassion. Mass deportation would achieve the opposite,” Murray said.