The White House is finalizing plans for a U.S.-Mexico border clampdown that would limit asylum requests and automatically deny entrance to migrants once a certain threshold is met. Despite this, the Biden administration has allowed over 350,000 asylum cases filed by migrants to be closed since 2022, with the basis being that the migrants did not have a criminal record or pose a threat to the U.S. This essentially allows these migrants to remain in the U.S. with what amounts to amnesty, as they are removed from the legal system without having to check in with authorities.
A memo sent out by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) principal legal advisor in 2022 instructed agency prosecutors to dismiss cases for migrants who do not pose a threat to national security. Data from Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) shows that in 2022, there were over 173,000 applications for asylum filed, with 36,250 applicants ordered to be removed from the U.S., 31,859 granted asylum, and 102,550 applications dismissed or taken off the books. In 2023, there were even more asylum applications filed, with 52,440 applicants ordered to be removed, 43,113 granted asylum, and 149,305 applications dismissed or taken off the books.
In contrast, during the Trump administration in 2019, there were fewer asylum applications filed, with only 87,018 applications. The applicants whose cases are dismissed in the current administration are able to apply for asylum again or seek other forms of legal status, such as family-based or employment-based visas, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The immigration court backlog has grown significantly, with immigration judges unable to keep up with the influx of new cases into the system, resulting in nearly 3.6 million cases in the backlog by FY 2024.
The president has been considering additional executive action to address the immigration issue since a bipartisan border bill collapsed earlier this year. The number of illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border has decreased due to Mexico’s increased efforts, but immigration remains a top concern leading up to the U.S. presidential election. Biden’s administration aims to prevent a potential spike in crossings as the election nears, with proposed restrictions on the overwhelmed asylum system, efforts to speed up migrant cases, and measures to expedite processing for migrants with criminal records or those deemed ineligible for asylum.
The proposed restrictions include capping the average number of daily encounters at 4,000, which would impact asylum-seekers coming to the border with appointments through U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s CBP One app. The Biden administration is considering policies from a stalled bipartisan Senate border deal to address these issues, signaling an effort to control border numbers without congressional assistance. These measures are part of a larger effort to manage the immigration situation and reduce the growing backlog in the asylum system.
