Several immigrants are waiting to be cleared by authorities at the Arizona border on January 6th. Gregory Bull (AP)
Washington on Tuesday unveiled the outlines of a plan aimed at reducing the arrival of illegal immigrants in the United States. President Joe Biden’s administration is tightening border management by imposing restrictions on citizens of other countries seeking asylum. Only those applying for it from their countries of origin or transit can do so, according to the requirements put forward by the government in early 2023. The Democratic President’s plan, which is expected to be in place for two years from next March, has drawn much criticism from human rights organizations.
The measure, jointly announced this Tuesday by the Ministries of Homeland Security and Justice, aims to motivate tens of thousands of migrants “to pursue a legal route or to seek asylum or protection in the countries through which they travel”. If they don’t, the subjects won’t be able to enter the country, the administration says. It argues that the initiative aims to reduce migrant dependency on people-smuggling groups and the influx of people arriving at the border with Mexico, an issue that was contentious for Biden in the election.
“We are increasing the availability of a safe, orderly and legal route for them to reach the United States, while proposing new consequences for those who do not resort to the procedures offered by the country and its allies in the region,” assured Alejandro Mayorkas, head of the executive branch’s internal security department, said in a statement this Tuesday.
In January, the official reported that the Customs and Border Control Board (CBP) had filed an application, which accepts all asylum applications from citizens wishing to enter the country. The digital form must be completed in the countries of origin before embarking on the journey north. President Biden then clarified that if entry is denied or attempted illegal entry, people will be returned to Mexico and no longer be able to participate in the program. They will also be banned from entering the United States for five years.
The plan, which underpins the “rebuttable presumption” for asylum seekers, was provisionally made public this Tuesday when it was published in the state gazette. Over the next 30 days, it may receive comments from the public and the various agencies responsible for the implementation of United States immigration policy.
The measure will also become a tool to control the flow of migrants into Washington, which will end Title 42 on May 11, a rule that has allowed more than two million people (thousands of whom were asylum seekers) to be quickly expelled during the health emergency at the border.
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However, the norm already has several critics who consider it an almost total veto of the right to asylum. One of them is the renowned Union for Civil Liberties (ACLU). “President Biden’s proposal would put vulnerable people at risk and deny protection to thousands,” said the organization, which has branded it a new assault on the right to seek shelter and safety in the United States, a country forged by has admission of the persecuted in other nations.
Amnesty International’s Washington office has followed the same line. “The plan undermines the human right to asylum,” the human rights organization considered. “This new asylum veto would block protection for anyone who has not applied for asylum while transiting through third countries,” it said in a statement. Amnesty compares Biden’s move to similar bans the Trump administration wanted to impose in 2019 but couldn’t because a federal appeals court blocked it. The ACLU has threatened legal action if Biden goes through with his plan.
The government has defended some of the measures it has taken to prevent regional migration. Entry restrictions for nationals of Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua were imposed in January. Following the January 5 announcement, the average weekly arrivals from these countries dropped from 1,200 citizens to just 35 by the end of the month, a 97% drop. “Encounters (fears) have remained at very low levels throughout February,” says Homeland Security. Instead, the department said it gave the green light to 26,000 people. Nearly 34,000 Venezuelans have arrived in the United States since October 2022, when a program to order northward migration was launched.
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