In a rare speech focused on immigration, President Biden announced new changes in border enforcement policies. The new plan incorporates several proposals that would make it easier for people to enter the country legally. Other changes will restrict asylum for people crossing the border illegally. Although the plan will unnecessarily create winners and losers, Biden’s new vision could—on net—improve the migration process for most affected immigrants and convert most illegal immigration to legal immigration, creating a more safe and orderly system. But the success of the new vision will depend heavily on how it is administered.
New Process to Request Asylum at the Border
The first component of the border plan will allow more people crossing through Mexico to request asylum at U.S.-Mexico ports of entry (legal crossing points). Applicants would receive a humanitarian exception to the Title 42 law that currently bars asylum if they demonstrate an undefined “vulnerability.” The administration has already been granting exceptions to Title 42 at ports of entry for the last several months, but the exceptions have been mainly for Haitians, and they usually require a referral by a nonprofit group at the border. Nonetheless, the exceptions are already helping, almost completely eliminating illegal entries by Haitians.
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