Biden acts to keep asylum ban at US-Mexico border in place longer

1/10/2024 6:24

        The Biden administration will toughen an asylum ban at the U.S.-Mexico border to keep it in place for longer, U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials said on Monday, signaling a desire to further curb illegal crossings.
        
        The change, effective just after midnight, will leave asylum restrictions in place until arrests of migrants crossing illegally drop below a daily average of 1,500 over 28 days, lengthened from the current seven-day period, one of the officials said on a call with reporters.
        
        President Joe Biden, a Democrat, issued the asylum ban in June to drive down record numbers of migrants caught crossing illegally. Immigration is a top voter issue in the run-up to the Nov. 5 election, which is pitting Vice President Kamala Harris against Republican Donald Trump, an immigration hardliner.
        
        Harris backs making the ban even harder to lift, Reuters reported last week, but the Biden administration did not adopt her proposal.