Ahead of the November presidential election, the Joe Biden administration has come up with a plan to strengthen border immigration enforcement as a winning move for immigration policy, which is receiving the strongest criticism from his rival, former President Donald Trump.
It announced new rules that would allow it to quickly expel some illegal immigrants who do not qualify as refugees at the border. The new rule is aimed at allowing border immigration officers to decide within days whether to deny asylum or deport an alien who has crossed the border into the United States without proper documentation and poses a risk to national security.
Until now, when illegal immigrants entered the United States through the southern border and applied for asylum, it could take years for a decision to be granted asylum. Under current immigration law, anyone who first arrives at the U.S. border and undergoes an initial immigration screening must have a criminal record or pose a threat to national security based on the basic standard for naturalization applications called ‘credible fear’ as a reason for leaving their country of origin.
This is because even those who are able to do so are allowed to continue immigration procedures. “The new rule is a step forward in ensuring public safety by expediting deportation proceedings for immigrants who are no longer allowed to remain in the United States,” said Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The new rules are expected to be finalized no later than the November election after several months of opinion-gathering.