The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, said a new US border control plan risks undermining the foundations of international human rights and refugee law.
"The right to seek asylum is a human right, regardless of origin, immigration status or how one arrives at an international border," Volker Turk said in a statement, warning that the new measures "appear to be in conflict with the prohibition of collective expulsion and with the principle of non-refoulement".
The announced changes include greater use of expedited removals and the extension of the use of public health order "Title 42" to allow for the expedited deportation to Mexico of approximately 30,000 Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans and Nicaraguans every month.
At the same time, a program previously targeted at Venezuelans would also include citizens of Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua, allowing about 30,000 people a month from these four countries to enter the United States for a limited period of two years "with strict conditions of eligibility".
"While I welcome measures to create and expand safe and regular pathways, such initiatives should not come at the expense of basic human rights, including the right to seek asylum and the right to an individual assessment of protection needs," he said the High Commissioner.
"We hear so much about migration crises, but in reality it is migrants who are often truly in crisis. Rather than denigrating them and depriving them of long-recognised rights, we should try to govern migration in a humane and safe way, in full respect of the rights human beings of each individual", he concluded.