By Ted Hesson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A new U.S. asylum change announced on Thursday aims to more quickly reject asylum seekers caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border if they pose certain criminal and national security concerns, a limited move to cut down on crossings.
A proposed regulation would allow asylum officers to deny claims of migrants convicted of a serious crime, linked to terrorism or posing other dangers to public safety, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a press release. The rejections could take place in days instead of a process that can take years, DHS said.
Reuters and other outlets reported the plans on Wednesday.
The measure will be limited in scope, potentially applying to thousands of asylum seekers per year, sources told Reuters. That would be a fraction of the 1 million caught crossing illegally from Oct. 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024.
A DHS official on a call with reporters declined to offer an estimate of how many asylum seekers could be rejected under the proposal.
“We don’t think that the rule will apply to large numbers of people, but it will apply to the people that we are most concerned about,” the official said.
U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat seeking reelection in November, took office in 2021 promising a more humane approach to border security compared to his predecessor former President Donald Trump, an immigration hardliner.
Biden has toughened his approach to border security in recent months as immigration has emerged as a top concern among voters. Trump, a Republican, is challenging Biden in the election and has criticized his administration for reversing some restrictive border policies.
The Biden administration has weighed using executive action to block many asylum seekers at the border if crossings reach a certain level but has not yet taken that step.
The proposed regulation to more quickly deny asylum seekers deemed to be criminal or security threats will be issued on Monday and be open to public comment for 30 days. The Biden administration intends to finalize it this year, the DHS official said, requesting anonymity as a condition of the call.
Under separate guidance issued on Thursday, U.S. asylum officers will evaluate during all initial asylum screenings whether asylum seekers could have moved to another part of their home country to find safety rather than travel to the U.S.
The latest moves follow a restrictive asylum regulation issued by Biden last year.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Mica Rosenberg and Alistair Bell)
