Daily Border Links: June 6, 2024
Adam Isacson
Daily Border Links are following a sporadic publication schedule between May 3 and July 19. Due to staff travel, this is the last daily update for a while. Regular daily updates will return on July 22.
Developments
The Biden administration’s new proclamation and rule curtailing asylum access at the U.S.-Mexico border, which it calls “Securing the Border,” went into effect at 12:01 AM on Wednesday, June 5. A leaked ICE implementation guidance is also available.
For explanations of the new rule’s provisions, implementation, and likely outcomes, see analyses from WOLA, the American Immigration Council, Human Rights Watch, the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association, the Cato Institute, and a coalition of legal and human rights groups. The American Immigration Council also published an in-depth explainer.
For migrants who cross the border between ports of entry, fail to specifically ask for protection (known as the “shout test”), or cannot prove a very high standard of fear of return, the legal right to asylum is now suspended until the daily border-wide average of Border Patrol migrant apprehensions drops below 1,500.
The last month with an average that low was July 2020, in the early moments of the COVID-19 pandemic. Reporters from the New York Times and CBS News tweeted that Border Patrol apprehended about 4,300 people on Tuesday June 4 and about 4,000 on Wednesday June 5. The daily average in May, one of the Biden administration’s lightest months, was about 3,800. The Washington Post cited internal DHS projections expecting an average of 3,900 to 6,700 apprehensions per day between July and September.
Should the daily average ever drop below 1,500, the rule would suspend the asylum restriction until the average once again climbs above 2,500.
The new measures add to the Biden administration’s May 2023 “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways” asylum ban, which already denied asylum to non-Mexican citizens who crossed between ports of entry, cannot prove a higher standard of fear, and did not have an asylum application turned down in another country along the way.
It is unclear whether the new rule resulted in increased returns or deportations of migrants yesterday—a briefing from DHS officials offered no numbers—and if so, how they were carried out.
- Maria Sacchetti, Nick Miroff, “Biden Announces New Asylum Cap in Bid to Deter Illegal Crossings” (The Washington Post, June 4, 2024).
- Hamed Aleaziz, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, “In Shift, Biden Issues Order Allowing Temporary Border Closure to Migrants” (The New York Times, June 4, 2024).
- Colleen Long, Elliot Spagat, Seung Min Kim, Stephen Groves, “Biden Rolls Out Asylum Restrictions, Months in the Making, to Help ‘Gain Control’ of the Border” (Associated Press, Associated Press, June 5, 2024).
- Michael D. Shear, “To Restrict Migrants, Biden Leans on Trump’s Favorite Immigration Law” (The New York Times, June 4, 2024).
- Hamed Aleaziz, “How Biden’s Asylum Order Works” (The New York Times, June 4, 2024).
- Gabe Gutierrez, Monica Alba, “Biden Signs Executive Action Drastically Tightening Border” (NBC News, June 4, 2024).
- Camilo Montoya-Galvez, “Biden’s New Immigration Order Restricts Asylum Claims Along the Border. Here’s How It Works.” (CBS News, June 4, 2024).
- Elliot Spagat, “How Biden’s New Order to Halt Asylum at the Us Border Is Supposed to Work” (Associated Press, Associated Press, June 4, 2024).
- Hannah Fry, “Biden Signs Order Tightening Border With Mexico When Crossings Surge” (The Los Angeles Times, June 4, 2024).
- Nicole Narea, “Biden’s Sweeping New Asylum Restrictions, Explained” (Vox, June 4, 2024).
- “Hamed Aleaziz @Haleaziz on Twitter” (Twitter, June 5, 2024).
- “Camilo Montoya-Galvez @Camiloreports on Twitter” (Twitter, June 6, 2024).
- Kristina Cooke, Mica Rosenberg, Ted Hesson, “Explainer: What Does Biden’s New Asylum Ban at the Us-Mexico Border Do?” (Reuters, Reuters, June 5, 2024).
- “How Will Biden’s New Restrictions Affect Asylum Seekers at Us Border?” (Al Jazeera, June 5, 2024).
- Maanvi Singh, “Biden’s Migrant Order Is Recipe for Chaos at Us Border: ‘It Will Only Cause Suffering’”(The Guardian (Uk), June 5, 2024).
- Catherine E. Shoichet, “Three Big Questions About Biden’s New Border Plan” (CNN, June 5, 2024).
- Donald Judd, Priscilla Alvarez, “Biden’s Sweeping Asylum Restrictions Take Effect at Midnight as He Tackles a Key Political Problem” (CNN, June 4, 2024).
- Kaia Hubbard, Lilia Luciano, “Biden Border Action Prompts Concern Among Migrant Advocates: “People Are Going to Have Fewer Options to Access Protection”” (CBS News, June 5, 2024).
- Megan Stringer, Stef W. Kight, “Biden’s New Border Action” (Axios, June 5, 2024).
- Cindy Ramirez, “Biden Issues Executive Order Further Restricting Asylum” (El Paso Matters, June 4, 2024).
- John Washington, “New Federal Asylum Rules and Pima County’s Funding for Aid — What You Need to Know About the Latest Border Developments” (Arizona Luminaria, June 4, 2024).
- Wendy Fry, “What Biden’s Border Order Means for California” (CalMatters, June 4, 2024).
“We intend to challenge this order in court,” the ACLU announced. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council noted that the ACLU “successfully blocked” a similar “2018 Trump asylum ban within days.” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), the principal Democratic negotiator on an unsuccessful “border deal” that sought to legislate a similar asylum limit, said “I am sympathetic to the position the administration is in, but I am skeptical the executive branch has the legal authority to shut down asylum processing between ports of entry on its own.”
- “Executive Order to Shut Down the Border Would Put Thousands of Lives at Risk” (American Civil Liberties Union, June 4, 2024).
- Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, “Biden’s New Changes to the Asylum Process: What You Need to Know”(Immigration Impact, American Immigration Council, June 5, 2024).
- “Andrew Desiderio @Andrewdesiderio on Twitter” (Twitter, June 4, 2024).
A UNHCR statement voiced “profound concern” about the Biden administration’s new rule.
- “Unhcr Expresses Concern Over New Asylum Restrictions in the United States” (UN Refugee Agency, June 4, 2024).
The administration’s announcements did not refer to increased capacity to implement its new barriers to asylum seekers. That would involve costly measures like more asylum officers for expedited removal proceedings, more detention space, or more capacity to deport migrants (more flights, or permission from Mexico to deport more non-Mexican citizens by land). Three DHS officials told the Washington Post that “the administration has not scheduled a short-term increase in deportation flights to ramp up the number of migrants returned to their home countries under the new measures.”
- Maria Sacchetti, Nick Miroff, “Border agents begin turning back migrants under new Biden restrictions” (The Washington Post, June 5, 2024).
- Didi Martinez, Julia Ainsley, Laura Strickler, “Questions Grow About How Biden’s Border Action Will Work Without New Funding” (NBC News, June 5, 2024).
- Philip Bump, “Analysis | What Biden’s new border limits mean in practice” (The Washington Post, June 4, 2024).
The New York Times’s Hamed Aleaziz reported that when asylum seekers in custody try to prove that they meet higher standards of fear of return (called “reasonable probability” of harm), they will have just four hours to find legal representation. “Migrants previously had at least 24 hours or more to find a lawyer.”
- Hamed Aleaziz, “A New Hurdle for Asylum Seekers: 4 Hours to Find a Lawyer” (The New York Times, June 5, 2024).
Reports from the border documented worry and perplexity among migrants. Migrants passing through the northern state of Durango told Milenio that the U.S. policy change did not alter their plans. “We do not have a plan, and we cannot return. This is a low blow,” a 64-year-old man from Colombia told the Guardian in Ciudad Juárez. Some told the Guardian that they are now considering crossing through the dangerous nearby desert. Shelter operators in northern Mexican border cities braced for new strains on their capacity.
- Emiliano Rodriguez Mega, Rocio Gallegos, Simon Romero, “Biden’s New Order Leaves Migrants at Border in Limbo Over Asylum Fate” (The New York Times, June 5, 2024).
- Elliot Spagat, Valerie Gonzalez, “Migrants Are Rattled and Unsure as Deportations Begin Under New Rule Halting Asylum” (Associated Press, Associated Press, June 6, 2024).
- Amanda Ulrich, Lorena Figueroa, “Asylum Seekers at the Us-Mexico Border Worry About Their Next Move: ‘We Cannot Return’” (The Guardian (Uk), June 5, 2024).
- Julian Resendiz, “Executive Order Takes Migrants by Surprise” (Border Report, June 4, 2024).
- Andrea Castillo, “Tired and Confused, First Migrants Reach California Border After Biden’s Asylum Order”(The Los Angeles Times, June 5, 2024).
- Alexandra Mendoza, Kristina Davis, “Anxiety and Uncertainty Set in at San Diego-Tijuana Border Before Rollout of Biden’s Immigration Order” (The San Diego Union-Tribune, June 4, 2024).
- Daniel Trotta, “New Reality for Migrants at U.S.-Mexico Border as Biden Asylum Ban Takes Effect” (Reuters, Reuters, June 5, 2024).
- Sandra Gomez, “Biden No Podra Detener Sueno Americano, Acusan Migrantes en Durango” (Milenio (Mexico), June 5, 2024).
Coverage of the new rule’s political and electoral implications found progressive Democrats outraged by the rollback of asylum rights; most Republicans claiming it is “too little, too late” and doesn’t do enough to stop migrants from arriving; and centrist Democrats—especially those from tightly contested states or districts—supporting it.
- Michael Gold, Reid J. Epstein, “Fingers Point as Biden Closes Border to Asylum Seekers” (The New York Times, June 4, 2024).
- Adriana Gomez Licon, Jill Colvin, Stephen Groves, “Will Biden’s New Border Measures Be Enough to Change Voters’ Minds?” (Associated Press, Associated Press, June 5, 2024).
- Leigh Ann Caldwell, Theodoric Meyer, “Democrats Frustrated With Biden Border Order” (The Washington Post, June 4, 2024).
- Aaron Blake, “Biden’s Risky Asylum Crackdown Gambit” (The Washington Post, June 4, 2024).
- Jennifer Haberkorn, Myah Ward, “Biden and Allies Move Swiftly to Sell the Public on His New Border Order”(Politico, June 4, 2024).
- Hans Nichols, Stef W. Kight, “How Politics, Timing Shaped Biden’s Border Gambit” (Axios, June 4, 2024).
- Rafael Carranza, “Why Biden’s Action on Border Security Is Getting Panned on the Right and Left in Arizona” (The Arizona Republic, June 4, 2024).
- Elizabeth Findell, Natalie Andrews, “Border Lawmaker’s Migrant Encounter Underscores 2024 Stakes” (The Wall Street Journal, June 5, 2024).
- Chris Stein, Gloria Oladipo, “Democrats Decry Biden Executive Order Turning Away Some Asylum Seekers”(The Guardian (Uk), June 4, 2024).
- Renee Schmiedeberg, “San Diego Leaders Respond to Biden’s Order That Could Close Border to Asylum Seekers Amid Surges” (City News Service, NBC San Diego, June 5, 2024).
- Nick Niedzwiadek, “Biden Border Crackdown Could Snip Economy” (Politico, June 4, 2024).
- Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-New York), “Cbc Immigration Task Force Statement on President Biden’s Executive Actions on Asylum” (U.S. House of Representatives, June 5, 2024).
- Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Washington), “Gluesenkamp Perez, Golden, Peltola, Davis on Biden’s Overdue Action on Border Security” (U.S. House of Representatives, June 4, 2024).
- Natasha Lennard, “Joe Biden’s Cruel Border Shutdown Follows in Clinton and Obama’s Footsteps Too” (The Intercept, June 5, 2024).
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador told reporters that, in a June 4 conversation with President Biden, he encouraged Biden to deport non-Mexican migrants directly, not into Mexico: “Why do they come to Mexico? We have no problem, we treat migrants very well, all of them, but why triangulate?” (Mexico accepts up to a combined 30,000 U.S. deportations per month of citizens of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.)
- Pedro Dominguez, “Amlo Negocia Repatriacion Directa Con Eu; Sin Pasar por Mexico” (Milenio (Mexico), June 5, 2024).
Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens tweeted that the agency has documented more than 300 deaths of migrants on U.S. soil since the fiscal year began in October, with the hot summer months just beginning.
- “Chief Jason Owens @Usbpchief on Twitter” (Twitter, June 4, 2024).
Mexican migration agents and National Guard personnel carried out a June 5 operation to evict migrants from a plaza near the Mexico City headquarters of the country’s refugee agency, COMAR.
- Sara Pantoja, “Denuncian Desalojo de Migrantes de la Plaza Giordano Bruno” (Proceso (Mexico), June 5, 2024).
The Panamanian government’s human rights ombudsman filed a criminal complaint about more than 400 alleged cases of sexual violence perpetrated against migrants in the Darién Gap region. Before Panama’s Health Ministry suspended its permission to operate in March, Doctors Without Borders had been documenting these cases.
- “Defensor del Pueblo de Panama Presenta Denuncia por Violaciones a Migrantes en el Darien” (EFE, Yahoo!, June 4, 2024).
Analyses and Feature Stories
The Washington Post reported on the Texas state government’s intense campaign to shut down El Paso’s Annunciation House migrant shelter.
- Arelis R. Hernandez, “This Catholic Leader Shelters Migrants. Texas Says He Runs ‘Stash Houses.’” (The Washington Post, June 6, 2024).
“Though there’s little to be done now about this recycled immigration policy” at the border, President Biden “could use his executive power to shield immigrants from deportation and allow them to work legally,” argued Andrea Flores of Fwd.us in a New York Times column.
- Andrea R. Flores, “To Win on Immigration, Biden Must Move the Debate Beyond the Border” (fwd.us, The New York Times, June 5, 2024).
A feature at the Guardian told the stories of five asylum seekers’ difficult and even traumatic passage through the U.S. asylum system.
- Sam Levin, “What the Us Asylum Process Is Really Like, in Applicants’ Own Words: ‘I’ve Waited 10 Years’”(The Guardian (Uk), June 4, 2024).
The New York Times reported on how the San Diego region has been impacted by a notable increase in migration over the past several months.
- Jonathan Wolfe, “San Diego Is Once Again a Top Migrant Entry Point” (The New York Times, June 4, 2024).
An Inter-American Dialogue slide presentation cited “1145 charter flights of at least 150 passengers en route to the Mexico-US border” landing in Managua, Nicaragua between July 2023 and January 2024.
- “A Foreign Policy Problem: Ten Facts About Migration to the US” (Inter-American Dialogue, June 5, 2024).
- “Informe Revela Que Dictadura Recibio 1,145 Vuelos Charter Cargados de Migrantes, Entre Julio de 2023 y Enero de 2024” (Nicaragua Investiga, June 5, 2024).
The Catholic Charities humanitarian migrant respite center in McAllen, which receives people released from CBP custody, commemorated ten years of operations. Headed by Sister Norma Pimentel, the well-known shelter was a response to the first major arrival of child and family asylum seekers, which at the time was mostly Central American citizens arriving largely in south Texas.
- Francisco E. Jimenez, “Humanitarian Respite Center in Mcallen Celebrates Ten Years of Service” (The Brownsville Herald, June 4, 2024).