Biden bans asylum for migrants who illegally cross U.S. border

U.S. President JoeBidenon Tuesday instituted a broad asylum ban on migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexicoborder, a major enforcement move in the run-up to the November electionthat will decide control of the White House.

Migrants caught crossing illegally could be quickly deported or turned back to Mexico under the measure, which will take effect just after midnight. There will be exceptions for unaccompanied children, people who face serious medical or safety threats and victims of trafficking, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said.

Biden, a Democrat, hastoughened his approachtobordersecurity as immigration has emerged as a top issue for Americans in the run-up to the Nov. 5 election. He is expected toface Republican Donald Trump, who made a hardline stance on immigration a centrepiece of his administration and vowed a wide-ranging crackdown if re-elected.

Bidentook office in 2021 vowing to reverse some of Trump's restrictive immigration policies but grappled with record levels of migrants caught crossing illegally, a trend that has strained U.S.borderauthorities and cities receiving new arrivals.

Duringa White House newsconferenceexplaining the proclamation,Bidensaidasylum access would remain available to migrants who registered for an appointment using an app known as CBP One or used other legal pathways instead of crossing illegally.

"This action will help us gain control of ourborderand restore order into the process," the presidentsaid. "This ban will remain in place until the number of people trying to enter illegally is reduced to a level that our system can effectively manage."

Even asBidenrolled out new restrictions, he criticized Trump's most controversial policies, including separating migrant families at theborderandcommentsthat immigrants in the U.S. illegally were "poisoning the blood of our country."

"I will never demonize immigrants,"Bidensaid.

When it comes to immigration policy, registered voters prefer Trump overBidenby a 17 percentage-point margin, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in mid-May.

Some details of plan unclear

The new asylum ban becomes active when the daily average ofborderarrests tops 2,500 over a week, and figures are currently higher than that, officials said on a call with reporters, requesting anonymity as a condition of the call.

U.S.borderarrests averaged 4,300 per day in April, according to the most recent government statistics available.

The banwill be paused when arrests drop belowan average of 1,500 per day forthreeweeks. The last time crossings fell to that level was in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in July 2020, when global travel was at historic lows.

Key operational questions about the measure's implementation remained unclear, including how the administration would quickly deport migrants from far-away and unco-operative countries and how many non-Mexican migrants Mexico would accept under the new enforcement regime.

The new restrictions resemble similar policies implemented by Trump and use a legal statute known as 212(f), whichserved as the underpinning for Trump's travel bans blocking people from several majority-Muslim nations and other countries.

TheBidenban was attacked by critics on both sides of the political spectrum on Tuesday.

Lee Gelernt, a lawyerfor the American Civil Liberties Union, said the organizationintended to sue over the new restrictions. The group and other immigrant advocacy organizations have criticizedBidenfor adopting Trump-like policies and backtracking on U.S. legal obligations to asylum seekers.

In advance of the announcement, Trump's campaign issued a statement criticizingBidenfor high levels of illegal immigration and said the move to exempt unaccompanied minors would encourage child trafficking.

Republicans also slammedBiden's moves as politically motivated and insufficient.

'People give up everything they have'

Bidenhas pushed unsuccessfully for months to pass aSenate billcrafted by a bipartisan group that would toughenbordersecurity, but Republicansrejected itafter Trump opposed it.

In addition to the latest measure, theBidenadministration has taken a number of steps over the past year to toughen the asylum process, includingissuing a regulationin May 2023 that heightened the standard for an initial asylum claim.

WATCH | Biden imposesbroad asylum ban on migrants caught at U.S.-Mexico border:

Biden announces new measures to deter illegal border crossings

3 months ago

Duration 2:38

Joe Biden has signed an executive order to temporarily block some migrants seeking asylum from entering the United States. The policy is widely seen as one of the most restrictive by a recent Democratic U.S. president.

The number of migrants caught crossing the U.S.-Mexicoborderillegally dropped in recent months, a trend U.S. officials partly attribute to increased Mexican enforcement.

Claudia Sheinbaumwas elected Mexico's first female president in a landslide victory on Sunday and will take office on Oct. 1.Biden'sborderrestrictions could put pressure on Sheinbaum, the successor to current President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador, to keep illegalbordercrossings down.

Bidenthanked Lpez Obrador on a phone call Tuesday for his continued co-operation on immigration, and the Mexican president, at his daily newsconference, said the two countries "have been making good progress" on the issue.

Enrique Lucero, the director of migrant affairs in Tijuana, Mexico, warned that the new measures could overwhelm migrant shelters as more people will be stuck waiting or returned. He said he thought desperate people would continue to find ways to cross theborderillegally.

"The question is where are all those people going to go?" Lucero said. "Many will end up on the streets or prey to traffickers."

Across theborderfrom Tijuana in San Diego, a 31-year-old Colombian man who identified himself as John said he spent eight days and 20 million Colombian pesos ($7,900 Cdn) to cross into the U.S. and seek asylum. He's now waiting for an immigration court hearing.

"It would have been very painful to have to start over, in debt," John said. "People give up everything they have."