A new rule finalized by the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Justice will encourage safe and lawful entry into the country.
The regulation was effective 11:59 ET May 11, when the Title 42 public health order expired, according to a May 10 news release. The rules incentivizes individuals “to use lawful, safe and orderly pathways to enter the United States."
“This administration has led the largest expansion of legal pathways for protection in decades, and this regulation will encourage migrants to seek access to those pathways instead of arriving unlawfully in the grip of smugglers at the southern border,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas said in the release.
The rule will build on efforts to combine legal pathways with consequences for failure to utilize those pathways, the release reported. This will be accomplished by placing certain limitations on asylum eligibility as a consequence.
The rule presumes people entering the U.S. unlawfully aren’t eligible for asylum. The U.S. can then remove migrants who don’t “establish a reasonable fear of persecution or torture in the country of removal,” the release said. Only extremely compelling circumstances will be accepted as grounds for noncitizens to refute this presumption.
The presumption will not apply to a noncitizen if they, or a family member traveling with them, were denied entry, presented at a port of entry at a prearranged time and location using the CBP One app, established they were unable to access or use the app due to specific and extenuating circumstances, significant technical difficulties or other applicable exceptions, or received appropriate authorization to enter the country to seek parole, the release said.
People may also disprove the assumption by presenting unusually strong evidence. Children who are unaccompanied are not included in this presumption, according to the release.
“At the same time, we continue to urge Congress to act on President Biden’s immigration reform proposal, bipartisan legislation to protect Dreamers and farm workers and repeated requests for additional resources to hire more asylum officers and immigration judges so we can finally fix our long-broken immigration system,” Mayorkas said in the release.
