After Covid border barriers are lifted in May, the administration of US President Joe Biden has proposed a strategy that will make it more difficult for refugees to request asylum.
Adult asylum seekers would have to use an app to schedule a meeting with US officials or apply for asylum in another nation first before coming to the US.
If migrants do not comply, they will not be accepted if they later arrive at the border.
Organizations who support immigration compared the initiative to Trump-era policy.
The proposal made on Tuesday is the most stringent immigration restriction ever put forth by Vice President Biden, a Democrat who was elected on a platform pledging a more compassionate response to the border problem than his predecessor’s administration.
Only families and adults would be subject to the new rule; unaccompanied minors would not.
According to the proposal, when migrants reach the border, they must utilize a phone app to schedule a meeting with a US immigration official.
It would be assumed that anyone who missed the appointment had been denied asylum in the other nations they had traveled through.
These unauthorized immigrants are eligible for speedy deportation under the plan, which was released jointly by the US Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice.
If passed, it would go into effect on May 11, the day when Title 42, a Trump administration health emergency clause that permits migrant expulsion back to Mexico, is set to expire.
The Biden policy would be in effect for two years with the possibility of an extension.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced that it would file a lawsuit to prevent the rule’s implementation.
The group contrasted the proposal to other presidential measures by Donald Trump that were found to be unlawful by the courts.
But, a Biden administration source who wished to remain unnamed told the AFP news agency that this administration would not accept enormous mayhem and disruption at the border because of Congress’s inability to act.
The public gets 30 days to offer feedback on the proposal’s draft.
According to recent government statistics, 200,000 unauthorized immigrants try to enter the US each month.
