U.S. government restricts access to asylum

USING CBP ONE| Migrants have started using the platform to present their case to the immigration authorities and get an appointment immediately. (Photo EFE)

VETO FOR FIVE YEARS AND CRIMINAL PUNISHMENT FOR ENTERING ILLEGALLY IN THE COUNTRY

Newsroom El Comercio de Colorado

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The U.S. government promulgated a new rule that restricts access to asylum on the border with Mexico and replaces Title 42, a rule that allowed the immediate return of migrants under cover of a possible spread of the coronavirus. The new norm, published in the federal register, qualifies migrants who cross the border irregularly and who have not requested protection in a third country during their journey to the United States as “not suitable” to request asylum.

This new restriction is part of the measures that will govern the border between Mexico and the US from Friday, May 12th, when Title 42 will be lifted. Due to the application of this rule, up to 2.5 million migrants were expelled in the last three years. From now on, the main legal route to request asylum in the US will be through the CBP One mobile application, which allows migrants to make appointments with the authorities to present their cases.

Ban for five years and criminal charges

The US will offer some 1,000 daily appointments to request asylum through the CBP One mobile application. The number of daily available appointments may increase “depending on the capacity” of the migration service workers. Those who do not take advantage of this process and decide to cross the border irregularly will be declared ineligible to request asylum in the US, unless they have previously been denied an asylum in a third country. They can also demonstrate that they have encountered technological, security, or language barriers to access the application.

People who are found to be ineligible to apply for asylum may be deported. They will be barred from entering the US for five years. In addition, these people may face criminal charges if they try to re-enter the US, officials said. In fact, they also detailed that the US increased the number of deportation flights to countries in the region and reached an agreement with Mexico so that the neighboring country will receives up to 30,000 deported migrants from Venezuela, Haiti, Nicaragua and Cuba per month.

People who are arrested crossing the border and who are given the opportunity to present their asylum case, through a “credible fear” interview, must do so while in detention. “We have hired and will be ready to deploy about 1,000 asylum officers to conduct credible fear interviews at the border starting Thursday,” a public official explained. The federal government will deploy some 24,000 “law enforcement officers” to the border, plus some 400 “volunteers.”

Criticism of the new norm

Several non-governmental organizations, such as Human Rights Watch (HRW), harshly criticized the rule promulgated when it was in the public comment phase. According to HRW, the new rule is a “violation of human rights and international law.”