A senior US official says the asylum restrictions are justified given the “huge number” of immigrants arriving

recently implemented restrictions On asylum denounced by immigration advocates, it is justified given the “huge number of people” who have traveled to the US-Mexico border in recent years, a senior Biden administration official told CBS News Thursday.

The Biden administration rule, enacted after Title 42 pandemic-era border restrictions expired on May 11, excludes migrants from asylum if they enter the United States without permission after failing to seek humanitarian protection in a third country on their way to US soil. Those who cannot prove they deserve an exemption from the law face deportation and banishment from the United States for five years.

The regulation, which is similar to the Trump administration’s similar but more restrictive rule, has come under fire from Democrats and progressive advocates, who say the measure violates a law dating back to the 1980s that gives immigrants the legal right to seek asylum, no matter how they do so. entered the country.

Levels of unauthorized immigration to the US southern border were “dramatically different” when Congress enshrined the right to seek asylum decades ago, said Blas Núñez Neto, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for Border and Immigration Policy.

“There is no doubt that our asylum system is outdated and has not kept up with the demographic changes and the countries we face at the borders,” Núñez Neto said in an interview, describing the current process as “hopelessly broken”.

Núñez-Neto argued that the restrictions on asylum eligibility are “an attempt to try to address some of the problems that we see in the asylum system, especially in light of the sheer number of people we’re facing right now.”

The US Refugee Program was formally created in 1980 to grant asylum to those fleeing persecution based on race, religion, politics, or other factors. under severe pressure Over the past decade, unprecedented numbers of migrants have sought protection along the southern border.

Fewer than 700 immigration judges oversee more than 2 million pending cases, many of them asylum applications, Government data Displays. The massive and growing backlog has led to long waiting times for applicants to have their cases decided, a dynamic that government officials say hurts legitimate asylum seekers and encourages immigrants looking for better economic opportunities to use the system to stay in the United States.

The Biden administration’s broad asylum borders are part of a concerted effort to increase penalties for those entering the United States illegally. The United States has increased official deportations, which, unlike expulsions under Public Health Act 42, impose lengthy bans on entering the country and threaten criminal prosecution if deportees attempt to do so illegally.

Last week alone, the United States deported or returned nearly 12,500 immigrants to their countries of origin or Mexico, Núñez Neto said, calling it a “significant” increase over the number of official deportations and returns that take place each week before Title 42 expires.

Núñez Neto said the increase in official deportations, and immigrants’ awareness of the tougher consequences of illegal entry, is partly responsible for the sharp decline in border crossings since the end of Title 42, which was expected to lead to a massive rise in the number of migrants. “I think this message resonates with immigrants,” he said.

Núñez-Neto added that illegal border crossings are still nearly 70% fewer than the record high of 10,000 arrivals per day just before Title 42 ended. But he warned that the situation could change.

“We know there are tens of thousands of migrants in Mexico and more between Mexico and the Darien,” Núñez Neto said, referring to the infamous Panamanian jungle that tens of thousands of migrants crossed on foot last year on their way to the United States.

Another element of the Biden administration’s post-Title 42 border strategy relies on giving immigrants more opportunities to come to the United States with legal permission.

The program currently allows up to 30,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter the United States each month if the Americans agree to sponsor them financially. In just a few months, the program has taken off More than 1.5 million raising internal concerns that the program’s goal to discourage migrants from traveling to the US border could be jeopardized unless the monthly cap is raised.

Núñez-Neto did not say if officials plan to increase the 30,000 monthly cap, but noted that the administration is not “actively considering” expanding the program to additional nationalities, such as immigrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Another effort to expand legal immigration is a system powered by a government smartphone app that allows migrants in Mexico to secure an appointment to be processed at an official border crossing, so that US officials can decide whether they should be allowed into the country to seek asylum. . Migrants who arrive at the port of entry by appointment are exempt from the asylum restrictions.

Administration Certain Wednesday, it plans to process nearly 40,000 immigrants with appointments each month, up from the 20,000 immigrants per month on average between January and April.

Republicans have sharply criticized the app, calling it a “concierge service for illegal immigrants.” Meanwhile, immigrant advocates have complained that the process is not accessible to some of the most vulnerable asylum seekers who lack smartphones or a strong internet connection.

Núñez Neto said the app “works very well”. He cited the State Department’s efforts to fund groups’ efforts in Mexico to offer immigrants Wi-Fi and internal findings that the “vast majority” of migrants processed by US border officials have phones. Núñez-Neto also noted that some migrants can be processed without an appointment at ports of entry if they have force majeure.

As the Biden administration pledged to establish dozens of centers in Latin America to screen migrants to ensure their eligibility for resettlement in host countries, Canada, Spain or the United States, Núñez Neto indicated that Guatemala agreed on Thursday to host these centers, which are now called “safe mobility centers”. “.

Nunez Neto acknowledged Thursday that recent actions by the Biden administration, just like those of previous administrations, remain “insufficient” to address long-term immigration challenges, citing lawsuits by Texas and immigration advocates who put those policies at risk. .

He said Democratic and Republican lawmakers need to find “ways to compromise” and modernize the US immigration system, which has not been reformed in any way since the 1990s.

“I hope we can start that conversation in Congress and I will call on Congress to help next week when I testify,” Núñez-Neto said.