Rule Will Mean Asylum Denials for Many Migrants

A new regulation will deny asylum to many migrants that cross the U.S.-Mexico border once Title 42 expires next week, reports The New York Post.

The new rule is expected to be finalized by May 11, according to officials who spoke with the news outlet.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Friday that authorities faced “extremely challenging” circumstances along the border with Mexico days before pandemic-related asylum restrictions end.

The secretary reaffirmed plans to finalize a new policy by Thursday that will make it extremely difficult for migrants to seek asylum if they pass through another country, like Mexico, on their way to the U.S. border, or if they did not use other legal methods to enter the United States.

“The situation at the border is a very serious one, a very challenging one, and a very difficult one,” Mayorkas said.

Illegal crossings tumbled after President Joe Biden announced asylum restrictions in January, but they have risen since mid-April. Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said this week they have been hovering around 7,200 daily, up from about 5,200 in March.

Mayorkas touted new legal pathways, which include parole for up to 30,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans a month who apply online with a financial sponsor. But he said the Biden administration could do only so much without Congress.

“We have a plan; we are executing on that plan,” Mayorkas said. “Fundamentally, however, we are working within a broken immigration system that for decades has been in dire need of reform.”

Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.