Migrants seeking protection in the United States now face a new hurdle, even after President Joe Biden announced a near-total ban on asylum.
Starting Wednesday, migrants who enter the United States illegally will have four hours to find a lawyer if they want to argue that they should be exempt from sweeping asylum restrictions that Biden announced on Tuesday.
If they cannot find a lawyer, they must make a credible case themselves or be sent back immediately. Migrants previously had at least 24 hours or more to find a lawyer.
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The stricter time constraints were outlined in an email from John Lafferty, chief of asylum at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, to agents carrying out Biden’s executive action temporarily halting asylum applications at the border.
Despite Biden’s order, there are still some limited ways for migrants to enter the country. People who legitimately fear torture or persecution in their home countries can still seek protection in the United States using programs other than asylum, but those programs have a much higher bar for eligibility.
Critics say the four-hour time limit could make it nearly impossible to meet that bar.
“Migrants who may have been exposed to severe trauma in the days before their encounter with U.S. officials should not be immediately forced into what could be the most important interview of their lives without being given a meaningful opportunity to rest or receive any assistance “, the spokesperson said. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council.
A Department of Homeland Security official said the four-hour limit was intended to speed up processing times in the notoriously backlogged system. The person noted that the limit is only in effect between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., so people arriving at night won’t be penalized if they can’t reach someone outside normal hours.
Still, requests for extensions will only be granted in “extraordinary circumstances,” said the person, who requested anonymity to discuss the new rules.
Biden’s tough new immigration policy comes at a time when he is facing intense political pressure, including from his own party, to crack down on illegal migration. With the presidential election just five months away, polls show that many Americans favor strict enforcement at the southern border.
Biden’s Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, has made illegal immigration a centerpiece of his campaign. During his term in the White House, Trump also tried to reduce the amount of time it took for migrants to find a lawyer.
But a federal judge ruled at the time that the head of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that issued the order, had not been lawfully appointed to his role, so his decisions were overturned.
Critics say Biden is copying Trump’s tactics. But Biden administration officials say the president is trying to bring much-needed order at a time when the number of people crossing the border illegally has reached historic highs.
And they hope the actions will give Biden a way to neutralize Trump and Republicans, who have long accused the president — and Democrats in general — of being weak at the border.
The American Civil Liberties Union said it planned to challenge the executive action in court.
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