Biden Expands Asylum Restrictions at the Southern Border

President Biden on Monday expanded the temporary restrictions on asylum that he imposed over the summer, ensuring that the crackdown at the southern border will stay in effect for the foreseeable future.The executive action, which goes into effect on Tuesday, builds on the restrictions that Mr.Biden announced in June, which blocked a vast majority of asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border and allowed agents to turn people back quickly.Biden administration officials have credited the policy for leading to the dramatic reduction in illegal crossings at a critical moment in the presidential campaign, as Vice President Kamala Harris has faced sharp criticism over the border.Under the June order, the restrictions on asylum would lift when the number of people trying to cross illegally each day dropped below 1,500 for one week, which has not happened so far.

The latest action requires that the numbers stay down for 28 days straight.Government officials maintain that the change is necessary because extreme weather conditions or other temporary developments could artificially lower the numbers without changing the overall migration dynamic in Mexico.This change, they contend, ensures that the order will lift only when the migratory patterns have changed significantly.The American Civil Liberties Union has sued over the order, saying it violates immigration law.Immigrant advocates have said the order is putting would-be asylum seekers in danger by not permitting them the ordinary access of the asylum system.“The asylum statute enacted by Congress recognizes that people fleeing danger should not be forced to wait and try to secure an appointment to seek asylum,” Omar Jadwat, the head of the A.C.L.U.’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, said in a statement on Monday.

“The government’s abandonment of that principle is already having grave consequences for the people our laws are intended to protect.”...