Biden administration's asylum executive action decreased encounters by 40%: DHS
Biden administration's asylum executive action decreased encounters by 40%: DHS
It comes as DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will be on the border Wednesday.
ByLuke Barr
June 26, 2024, 5:01 AM
President Joe Biden delivers remarks about student protests over the war in Gaza, from the Roosevelt Room of the White House, May 2, 2024, in Washington. Evan Vucci/AP
The executive action established a rule to turn away migrants who are claiming asylum between ports of entry after there have been seven consecutive days of more than 2,500 encounters along the southern border.
President Joe Biden delivers remarks about student protests over the war in Gaza, from the Roosevelt Room of the White House, May 2, 2024, in Washington.Evan Vucci/AP
The restrictions on asylum claims would remain in place for an additional 14 days once daily encounters at the border fall to a seven-day average of 1,500 or less.
MORE: What to know about Biden's executive action on immigration
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Texas Civil Rights Project and other civil rights organizations filed a federal complaint challenging the rule, saying it puts vulnerable migrants at risk.
MORE: ACLU files federal complaint against new Biden asylum rule
The administration claims the new rule is having an impact, but said the rule is "no substitute" for the bipartisan border bill which failed to advance in the Senate in May.
Migrants seeking to enter the United States through a barbed wire fence installed along the Rio Grande are driven away with pepper spray shots by Texas National Guard agents at the border with Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua State, Mexico, on May 13, 2024.Herika Martinez/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
The daily average of encounters along the border are 2,400 a day - not enough to lift the asylum restrictions but trending downward, the administration said.
The numbers come as Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will be along the southwest border on Wednesday, touring operations.
Since the executive action was implemented, DHS has removed and returned more than 24,000 individuals to more than 20 countries, including by operating more than 100 international repatriation flights.