US-Mexico Border: What effect will Biden’s new restrictions have?

The president of United States, Joe Bidensigned a new executive order this Tuesday that seeks to limit the number of people who can request asylum in the border with Mexico.

Although it is not the first time that the Democratic Government has imposed restrictions to deter migration, today’s action is the most drastic action that Biden has taken in his Presidency and echoes measures used by former Republican President Donald Trump (2017-2021).

How will these restrictions work?

The measures temporarily restrict access to asylum at the southern border; They will be activated when the number of irregular crossings exceeds a specific number and will pause when they decrease.

When they come into force, the measures allow authorities to deport to their countries of origin or expel to Mexico people who cross irregularly, unless they prove under stricter standards that they can be persecuted or tortured if expelled.

Specifically, the restrictions will be activated when an average of 2,500 irregular daily border crossings are exceeded for a period of seven days.

The daily crossings are already above that figure, so it will come into force “immediately”, according to officials in a call with reporters.

The only way for the restrictions to be lifted is for the number of arrests to drop to an average of 1,500 per day for 14 days.

This reduction is difficult to achieve, since such a low number of arrests has not been reported since July 2020, in the midst of the pandemic.

In order to apply for asylum in the United States when the restriction is in place, a person must prove that there is a “reasonable probability” that she will be persecuted or tortured if she is sent back to her country of origin.

According to legal experts consulted by EFE, this standard is much higher than the current one and requires people to present more evidence to the immigration authorities at the border, which are the initial filter to initiate an asylum case in the United States.

The order, however, provides for exceptions and does not apply to unaccompanied minors, nor to people who can demonstrate a serious medical emergency, imminent risk to their life or safety, or who are victims of human trafficking.

What is the legal basis?

The order is based on section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which grants the president the authority to prohibit the entry of certain migrants by executive order if it is determined that their entry would be “harmful” for the national interest.

Trump invoked this article on several occasions during his term, including banning the entry of people from Muslim-majority countries.

The Republican Government was subject to multiple lawsuits by organizations defending human rights for the use of this article.

White House officials indicated that they are now “prepared” for any legal dispute.

What real effect will it have on the border?

Since Title 42 was lifted in May 2023, a restriction that came into effect during the pandemic and allowed the immediate expulsions of migrants to Mexico, the Biden Government has implemented several measures to limit who can request asylum in the United States. and deport a greater number of people.

However, the real effect that these have had is limited because the United States does not have the capacity to quickly review the applications or to deport or detain all the people who arrive at the border, according to experts consulted by EFE.

The United States currently has an agreement with Mexico to return about 30,000 migrants a month, but only those from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

“There just aren’t that many planes” to carry out deportations, Adam Isaacson, an expert from the organization Washington Office on Latin American Affairs (WOLA), told EFE.

What has been happening so far is that the United States authorities allow these people to enter the country while their asylum application is processed in court.

And so, years pass before they have the opportunity to present themselves to a judge and find out what their future will be, according to Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, an analyst at the American Immigration Council.