Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas defended the Biden administration’s new asylum restrictions and the impact on migrants crossing the border illegally Sunday in an interview with ABC News’ “This Week.”
“Our intent is to really change the risk assessment of individuals before they leave their country of origin and encourage them to use legal routes that we have made available to them and keep them out of the hands of exploitative smugglers,” Mayorkas told this week. ” co-anchor Martha Raddatz.
MORE: Biden administration aims to speed up asylum claims for migrants from years to months
The number of people being processed for expedited removal from the border has more than doubled since President Joe Biden issued the proclamation to significantly curb asylum for illegal border crossers in the Southwest, administration officials said Friday.
The new executive actions announced last week establish a rule that will turn away migrants who cross illegally between ports of entry and attempt to claim asylum after seven consecutive days, with an average of 2,500 encounters or more. That limit can only be lifted if the seven-day average falls to 1,500 or less, government officials said.
Previously, an average of about 900 people per day were placed in expedited removal proceedings, administration officials said — already at a record level. One administration official said it may take some time for the number of illegal crossings to decrease, but Mayorkas told Raddatz that so far “the signs are positive.”
Biden talks about new immigration actions that limit asylum
Raddatz pressed the secretary on why this executive action came in June, four months after Senate Republicans blocked a bipartisan border and the president’s passage of the immigration bill.
Mayorkas stuck with the timeline, pointing to May 2023, when the administration implemented a new asylum policy following the end of COVID-19 migrant restrictions, known as Title 42.
“We introduced a regulation restricting the shelter, and then in August we urged Congress to provide our department with a supplemental funding bill. That did not work. We then sought congressional action in October,” he said. “Martha, the agreement between the two parties was rejected once. We went ahead again. It was rejected a second time. And then we developed and implemented this, and we are in the early stages. And let’s understand the meaning of not downplay this step and its consequences.
“Let’s remember what everyone expected when Title 42 was repealed in May 2023,” Mayorkas said. “People expected pandemonium. Our model worked. We brought the numbers down.”
But the number of Border Patrol apprehensions rose again in December, reaching a record of nearly a quarter of a million.
“What we need is action from Congress,” Mayorkas said.
Homeland Security is proposing a change in the asylum application process
With the new restrictions in place, the Department of Homeland Security has posted signs throughout processing facilities and played videos in certain areas informing migrants of their rights to report victimization or fear of persecution. Authorities are trained to identify symptoms or signs of distress in those they encounter and are prepared to intervene if necessary, but migrants will be required to express their fear of persecution themselves.
Administration officials have said the new measures would “significantly accelerate” the current process for individuals who do not demonstrate credible fear, which is the threshold for filing an asylum claim in the United States.
Mexico continues to agree to take back migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. However, one official said U.S. authorities always strive to prioritize repatriation to the home country if possible.
Praise, but some concern among Democrats after Biden’s border actions
When he ran for president during the 2020 campaign, Biden repeatedly criticized then-President Donald Trump’s efforts to limit the asylum process.
In July 2019, Biden tweeted: “Trump is fighting tooth and nail to deny those fleeing dangerous situations the right to seek asylum in our nation. We must uphold our moral responsibility and enforce our immigration laws with dignity, and not turn away those fleeing violence, war and poverty.”
Mayorkas rejected that this position was contrary to current administration policy.
No, migrants are not causing a wave of violent crime, as Trump claims
“What the president said then is what we are experiencing today. We are providing individuals with access to asylum through ports of entry, under a program we have developed,” Mayorkas said. “We give people access to asylum if they come from countries such as Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela through a conditional program.”
Raddatz pushed back, noting that the American Civil Liberties Union, which has said it will sue the government, has said the policy will “endanger thousands of lives.” With limits on the number of people who can schedule appointments at ports of entry, immigrant advocates remain concerned that those with valid claims to remain in the United States will be turned away.
“I respectfully disagree with the ACLU. I expect they will sue us. We stand by the legality of what we did. We stand by the value proposition,” Mayorkas said.
There are limited exceptions to the new rules. Individuals who cross the border illegally will “generally be considered ineligible for asylum” unless they are victims of serious trafficking, experience a medical emergency or face “an immediate and extreme” security threat, the report said. executive action.
Mayorkas defends new asylum restrictions: ‘We stand by the legality of what we did’ originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
