The President’s Government Joe Biden will present on Thursday a new and broad regulation that aims to speed up the processing of asylum and deportations at the border between United States and Mexicowhen a record number of migrants is trying to enter their territory.
The announcement comes as US officials debate whether to end another politics of the age of Covid-19 that has blocked most of asylum applications at the border and that could be counteracted by the new regulations, speeding up these procedures.
The final rule on asylum, which will take effect in late May or early June, will authorize officials to accept or reject applications for protection from the immigrants shortly after they cross the border, thereby avoiding immigration court, where cases often take years to resolve by judges.
Most of the migrants stuck at the southwestern border of the United States come from Mexico and Central Americabut more and more are coming from further afield seeking refuge, including in recent weeks Ukrainians fleeing the russian invasion of his country, an action that Moscow describes as a “special military operation”.
“The current system of processing asylum claims at our borders is long overdue for fixing,” said Secretary of Homeland Security, Alexander Mayorcas, it’s a statement. The issue has drawn attacks from Republicans seeking to gain control of the Congress in the November legislative elections.
Under the new standard, issued jointly by the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Departmentmore immigrants, including families, will enter a process known as “expedited ejection” to resolve cases more quickly. It will not apply to unaccompanied children.
Some advocates of immigrant rights They oppose the change, which aims to process cases in 90 days, for fear it will lead to more deportations. Although immigrants who are denied asylum will have another opportunity to present their case before a judge in immigrationthose processes will also be accelerated to be resolved in three months.
An official of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, for its acronym in English), which briefed reporters on condition of anonymity on Wednesday, explained that the new system will be phased in gradually and will initially apply only to a small number of migrants.
Biden has maintained a controversial decree known as Title 42, launched in March 2020 by his predecessor, donald trumpand that allows the majority of migrants caught crossing the border to be quickly expelled to Mexico or other countries in order to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Washington is leaning toward ending the order in the wake of recent court decisions complicating its enforcement, but no final decision has been made ahead of next week’s deadline to renew, modify or end it.
