On Tuesday, the Biden administration released a new rule largely barring migrants who traveled through other countries on their way to the US-Mexico border from applying for asylum in the United States. The new 153-page proposed regulation marks a departure from decades-long protocol, and is the most restrictive policy put in place by the Biden administration to try and manage the US-Mexico border.
According to the text of the regulation, the proposed rule would presume asylum ineligibility and “encourage migrants to avail themselves of lawful, safe, and orderly pathways into the United States, or otherwise to seek asylum or other protection in countries through which they travel, thereby reducing reliance on human smuggling networks that exploit migrants for financial gain.” The rule would generally apply to migrants who unlawfully cross the US-Mexico border, but doesn’t apply to unaccompanied migrant children. The proposed rule will be posted in the Federal Register for a 30-day public comment period and likely take effect in May, when Title 42 is set to expire. The rule is also expected to last for two years. The United States had begun sending migrants from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua to Mexico under Title 42 and opened a separate program that allows migrants of those nationalities and Haiti to apply to legally come to the United States. Thousands of migrants have already applied.
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