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Immigration: the U.S. administration intends to get tough on asylum seekers

Emmanuel Paul
Emmanuel Paul - Journalist/ Storyteller

The U.S. administration intends to tackle the problem of the dramatic increase in asylum applications at the southern border of the United States.

Joe Biden is expected to issue an executive order announcing measures to address the migration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Mayors from several border cities have been invited to the White House on Tuesday. This will be an opportunity for them to present their grievances about the migratory flow in their respective cities, according to NPR.

Joe Biden hopes to invoke Section 212F on immigration. A law “that gives him the power to restrict immigration and prevent non-immigrant visitors from entering the United States to protect the country’s interests,” reports NPR’s Sergio Martínez-Beltrán.

This legal provision will give the government the option of accepting a certain number of asylum applications and suspending entry to the United States once the quantity of applications set by the administration has been reached. This decision will have serious consequences for immigrants hoping to apply for asylum in the United States. “This could be this administration’s most significant border management policy to date,” according to NPR’s Martínez-Beltrán.

This measure is likely to be harshly criticized by immigrant rights organizations, which often point to international conventions and treaties guaranteeing the right to seek asylum.

The Biden administration is also expected to decide on temporary protection status for Haiti. The latest TPS re-designation expires this Tuesday, June 4.

About a month ago, a group of 67 senators and members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, requesting a new redesignation for Haitians in the United States illegally.

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