Federal Government Tightens Asylum Restrictions at Border

The new rules, which amend the Biden administration’s June restrictions, allow officials to cut off asylum requests when they deem the border is overwhelmed.

President Joe Biden at the U.S.–Mexico border fence in El Paso, Texas, on Jan. 8, 2023. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

The Biden administration said on Sept. 30 that it is making its asylum restrictions at the southern border stricter, as illegal immigration remains a source of scrutiny for the president’s policy agenda.

Under the president’s proclamation issued in June, the federal government could restrict asylum requests after more than 2,500 illegal immigrants had been apprehended at the border per day on average for seven consecutive days. That restriction would lift after the number dropped below 1,500 per day for a week.

The new restrictions prevent illegal immigrants from being able to request asylum whenever the Secretary of Homeland Security deems the southern border has become overwhelmed. The restriction will be lifted when the secretary “has made a factual determination that there have been 28 consecutive calendar days in which the 7-consecutive-calendar-day average of encounters is less than 1,500,” the new order states.

The administration is also now counting all children in that equation before previously only counting children from Mexico.

The changes take effect on Oct. 1.

While immigration advocates criticized the last set of asylum restrictions that President Joe Biden announced in June, his administration has credited them for lowering the number of illegal crossings at the southern border.

Former President Donald Trump has blamed the Biden administration’s immigration strategy for creating chaos at the southern border, particularly after Biden rescinded many Trump-era policies upon taking office in 2021. Trump has promised to stem the flow of illegal immigration in his first week of office if reelected, potentially through executive action.

He has also pledged to carry out a large-scale deportation operation to remove illegal immigrants, as well as begin border wall construction again.

Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris visited the southern border in Douglas, Arizona, on Sept. 27 and called for tightening restrictions on asylum.

“Those who cross our borders unlawfully will be apprehended and removed and barred from reentering for five years. We will pursue more severe criminal charges against repeat violators, and if someone does not make an asylum request at a legal point of entry and instead crosses our border unlawfully, they will be barred from receiving asylum,” Harris said during a presidential campaign event in Douglas.

The vice president promised to increase law enforcement funding and training, including 100 new inspection systems for detecting fentanyl hidden inside vehicles, to limit its flow through ports of entry. Harris said she would double the Justice Department’s resources to “extradite and prosecute transnational criminal organizations and the cartels.”

She had previously limited her discussions on immigration policy to criticizing Trump for telling Senate Republicans to vote against the bipartisan border bill. Harris has promised to revive the failed legislation in office, but that would require GOP support.

Since January 2021, the Biden administration has seen more than 8 million illegal immigrant encounters along the southwest border with Mexico alone.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.