The Latin American Report # 259

The Law and the Border

This Wednesday, June 5, a series of modifications to the regulations administered by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice on immigration went into effect. Following a proclamation signed by Joe Biden, “during emergency border circumstances” the entry of noncitizens across the southern border will be suspended and limited.

The Democratic administration aims to change the direction of the discussion on its handling of the immigration crisis, a critical issue for voters in November. According to Gallup, between February and April of this year, Americans pointed to irregular migration as the country's main problem, mainly disapproving of the Executive's approach.

"President Biden had no choice. He saw what was happening at the border. The numbers were higher than ever in terms of people trying to come here seeking asylum, and he knew he had to do something,” defends a Democratic female strategist. "Biden's decision seems too little too late. The public doesn't think he cares about [the border], and, therefore, thinks he doesn't [understand the problem],” alleges a once Republican-affiliated analyst.

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The owner of the Resolute desk must be ready to receive “friendly fire” from certain Democratic representatives and from human rights organizations that will denounce his proclamation in the courts. The chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus said she was “deeply disappointed”. "You can build a wall as high as you want. You can make applying for asylum as difficult as you want. That's not going to sustainably reduce the number of people who want to come to the United States,” said a Democratic senator from California.

“We are concerned about seeing this administration raise the standard for asylum seekers coming to our southern border and exercising a legal right,” said one activist. “[No one] wants to see [migrants] [manipulating] the asylum system when [they are] just looking for a better life or economic opportunity, but we see in our clients and other immigrants people who are fleeing the direst circumstances at a time of unprecedented global migration and we believe that the United States remains a beacon of hope and refuge,” she elaborated.

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The changes

Individuals who are subject to the [new] limit on asylum eligibility [...] and who do not establish a reasonable probability of persecution or torture in their country of removal will be promptly removed and they will be subject to at least a five-year bar to reentry and potential criminal prosecution.

The essence of the changes introduced is contained in the above paragraph, attributed to a senior Biden administration official in a background press call via teleconference. The limit on the entry of noncitizens is triggered when the Secretary of Homeland Security determines that the seven-consecutive-calendar-day average of encounters at the southern border has exceeded the 2,500 threshold. To return to the basic rules, the same average would have to fall below 1,500 encounters, too far right now.

Now, in practice, all migrants may “[manifest] a fear of return, or [express] [their] intention to apply for asylum or protection, express a fear of persecution or torture, or express a fear of return to his or her country or the country of removal.” When one reviews the Biden administration's regulations in detail, beyond the rhetoric, it always complies with the mandate to ensure that the migrant can apply for asylum, as the law states.

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What would change here is that immigration officials will not directly indicate to the migrant the possibility of applying for asylum, but that the migrant must “manifest” that intention. So, the migrant had better be literate about the system. In addition, the authorities would place a much more difficult barrier for migrants to overcome in the fear screenings, since the applicants need to be more “specific” when offering their testimonies about their reasons for requesting the benefit.

In the Interim Final Rule of the referred departments, it is recognized that many times migrants talk about general problems in their countries, such as violence or extortion, but asylum is granted to those who have been (or are potential) victims in their flesh of persecution and torture.

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Unfortunately for Latin Americans like the Ecuadorian Jessica León, it is not a matter of saying that in her country—as we well know—criminals “kill, rob, [and] extort,” but of how much she has suffered or believes she will suffer in her individuality the impact of that climate, and relate her experience to causes such as race, religion, politics, adherence to certain social groups, or nationality. The same applies to the Guatemalan who "fled" from Chiquimulilla. It is necessary to show the open wounds produced in a region pregnant with social debts.

VIDEO: The United States will temporarily close its Mexico border to asylum seekers from June 5, as President Joe Biden tries to neutralize his political weakness on migration ahead of November's election battle with Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/ryApvVr0Nc

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) June 5, 2024

And this is all for our report today. I have referenced the sources dynamically in the text, and remember you can learn how and where to follow the LATAM trail news by reading my work here. Have a nice day.