The Government halts a measure designed to expedite asylum applications at the border due to the end of Title 42

The Joe Biden government will temporarily freeze a measure that modified the way in which asylum requests are processed at the border, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing sources from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

What does the paralyzed measure consist of?

The measure, announced in March 2022 and which entered into force on May 31, sought to shorten the time between an immigrant crossing the border and the decision on whether they should be deported or can remain in the country.

To do this, it allowed federal officials from the Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and not only immigration judges, to process asylum applications.

They were given a period of 90 days to resolve: if positive, the migrant could remain in the country without having to appear before an immigration court;

if not, the case would go to an immigration court that also had 90 days to make a decision.

With this system, he hopes to reduce to just a few months a process that can currently take several years due to the saturation of immigration courts and the increase in the arrival of asylum seekers.

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"With this regulation we are building a more functional and sensible asylum system to guarantee that people who meet the requirements will receive protection more quickly, while those who do not meet the requirements will be expelled quickly," said Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of National security.

In practice, however, the new policy was only just beginning to be implemented: The Department of Homeland Security only allowed interviews with asylum officers for single adults heading to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, New York and Chicago.

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Why is the measure stopped now?

Anonymous sources cited by the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday indicate that the stay of the rule is temporary, with the aim of making sure that federal agencies prepare for the end of Title 42 on May 11.

This policy, approved in March 2020 by former President Donald Trump due to the COVID-19 pandemic, allows the immediate expulsion of the majority of migrants who arrive at the border alleging public health reasons.

Immigrant advocates have warned that the halting of the rule may be yet another sign that the administration is abandoning its efforts to humanize and improve the immigration system and reverting instead to Trump-era policies.

[Biden values ​​​​resuming the controversial detention of migrant families before the imminent end of Title 42]

A group of migrants gather at the border in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, where they have settled while waiting for Title 42 to be lifted. Christian Chavez / AP

“It is tragic to see the Administration abandon even minimal progress in favor of recycling Trump policies that are intentional in their cruelty,” Heidi Altman of the National Center for Immigrant Justice told the Los Angeles Times. 

Altman said the policy had many problems that needed fixing, but that it "represented one of the few efforts by the Administration to prioritize making the process more humane."