The American president wishes to impose new stricter rules for migrants who try to pass the southern border. The latter should now submit an online request beforehand.
MO12345lemonde with AFP
He had promised in the first days of 2023 to repair an American “broken” immigration system. Joe Biden is now attacking it. Its administration proposed new restrictions to asylum seekers on Tuesday, February 22, explaining that they want to prevent an influx of migrants at its southern border during post-Cavid.
The new rules desired by the government would require asylum seekers that they request in advance and not once arrived in the United States, otherwise they would be considered as not being able to claim asylum. At the beginning of January, the American president already set the tone: “Do not come to the border” without having previously launched a legal procedure, he had gone in a speech to the White House.
A new direction which is reminiscent of that of its republican predecessor. These rules were published on the federal register to be subject to comments for thirty days before being applied. A seemingly return to the hard regime established by Donald Trump, who had finally been canceled by the courts.
But the administration Biden argues that in the absence of acts on the part of the congress, it is the only way to manage the border, that up to 200,000 people try to cross each month, most of them asking for asylum. “This administration will not allow massive chaos and disorder on the border because of the failure of the congress to act,” said an official under the cover of anonymity.
online request
The rules would force migrants who want to come to the United States to ask for online asylum, through the official CBP One application, and to ask for an appointment to see US officials, or to ask Asylum first in a country they are going through to reach the American border. They would apply a system already in place for migrants from Ukraine, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti.
They must be put in place once a measure linked to the pandemic – called “Title 42” and allowing the expulsion without delay of migrants not having a visa, even potential asylum seekers – will be lifted, which is scheduled for May 11.
According to officials, the new rules will be temporary and expire after twenty-four months. However, they did not specify by which they would be replaced.
The proposed measures have been strongly criticized by defenders of the rights of migrants. They will close “the door to countless refugees seeking security and protection in the United States,” said Abby Maxman, president of Oxfam America. “This policy is illegal, immoral and will have a terrifying impact on children, women and men looking for security,” she added.