Photo: HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP/Getty Images
By: EFE Posted Jun 20, 2023, 20:02 pm EDT
Less than half of adult migrants who were apprehended illegally crossing the southern border of the United States in the last month were able to apply for asylumaccording to data provided by the government to a federal court in California.
The figures, which cover the period between May 12 and June 13 of this year, reveal that only 46% of the adults who were arrested at the border were able to overcome the new restrictions on access to asylumwhich entered into force on May 11.
By contrast, Before the pandemic (between 2014 and 2019), 83% of adults detained at irregular crossings managed to request this protectionas highlighted by Blas Nuñez Neto, in charge of border policy at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in a document delivered to Judge Jon S. Tigar.
Of the 8,195 adults who were subject to the new restriction and who were interviewed by the immigration authorities, only 3,753 were able to take the first step to apply for asylum in the US., according to the data delivered in court.
Tigar is in charge of studying the lawsuit presented in May by a series of organizations in defense of human rights to the new regulations, which restrict the possibilities of requesting asylum to those who have been arrested crossing irregularly and have not been denied this protection in a third country.
The rule, which came to replace Title 42, which allowed hot returns, also contemplates exceptions for migrants who demonstrate that they are in “exceptional situations” such as medical emergencies or an imminent threat of death, torture, or kidnapping.
In his written statement before the judge, Nuñez-Neto defended the regulation, assuring that it has helped “discourage irregular migration” and has contributed to “reducing migration through the Western Hemisphere.”
“DHS has improved the technology and processes at the border and now you can manage the cases” of people who aspire to request asylum “much faster than before,” the official stressed.
As a consequence, he added, the amount of time migrants spend in detention has also been reduced: from an average of 30 days in the pre-pandemic period to 13 days today.
These new processes, however, have been harshly criticized by organizations in defense of migrants in the US, who have pointed out that people are not being guaranteed access to legal advice.
The lawsuit against the rules imposed by Biden, which was filed by various NGOs in early May, accuses the government of replicating the policies of his predecessor, former President Donald Trump (2017-2021).
The organizations argued that US asylum laws do not allow the government to restrict access based on how people entered the country or whether they applied for protection in another country.
In turn, it points out that people cannot be required to request asylum in other countries that, in many cases, do not have systems equipped to manage applications or are not “remotely secure”.
The government has promoted the use of a mobile application, called “CBP One”as the main legal way to request asylum, something that, by law, can only be done on US soil.
Through this application, however, only 1,250 daily appointments are being offered to appear before the authorities at a port of entry.
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