New Rules on Asylum from the Biden Administration

In a move to provide “a safe, orderly, and lawful path to the United States”, the Biden Administration announced changes to rules of entry to the United States of those seeking asylum. Immigrants from countries other than Mexico who cross the border without proper documentation or without having applied for asylum in countries that they travelled through enroute to the United States may be penalized and deported more quickly under the new plan. Migrants may be required to show documentation of applications to other countries.

According to Secretary Mayorkas, the plan seeks to ensure the safety of migrants by having them apply for asylum along the way to the US and therefore potentially ending the need for travel through more sometimes dangerous areas and/or situations.

Human rights activists and many Democrats find the new rules “dehumanizing” and liken the policy to Trump era travel bans. Some are threatening lawsuits.