Biden Administration Further Blurs Differences Between Democrats and Republicans With Asylum Ban

We seemed so far away from "kids in cages" and "building walls:"

Migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border could be denied the chance to claim asylum and quickly deported under new restrictions announced on Tuesday, part of a sweeping enforcement effort by U.S. President Joe Biden.

The Biden administration will immediately begin denying access to asylum to those who cross illegally and deporting them to their home countries or to Mexico with exceptions for unaccompanied children, people who face serious medical or safety threats and victims of trafficking, a senior official said on a call with reporters.

Biden, a Democrat, has toughened his approach to border security as immigration has emerged as a top issue for Americans in the run-up to Nov. 5 elections where he will face Republican Donald Trump in a rematch of the 2020 contest.

The new asylum restrictions are not permanent, the U.S. official told reporters. They are activated when the daily average of border arrests tops 2,500 over a week and will be paused when arrests drop below 1,500 per day, the official said.

The deterrent measures "will significantly increase consequences for those who cross the southern border unlawfully," the official said, requesting anonymity as a condition of the call.

Key operational questions about how the new measures will be implemented remained unclear, however, including how the administration would quickly deport migrants from far-away and uncooperative countries and how many non-Mexican migrants Mexico would accept under the new enforcement regime.

Biden took office in 2021 vowing to reverse some of Trump's restrictive immigration policies but grappled with record levels of migrants caught crossing illegally, a trend that has strained U.S. border authorities and cities receiving cities new arrivals.

Trump has criticized Biden for rolling back his policies and vowed a wide-ranging crackdown if reelected.

The new restrictions resemble similar policies implemented by Trump and use a legal statute known as 212(f) that served as the underpinning for Trump's travel bans blocking people from several majority-Muslim nations and other countries.

The new restrictions are expected to trigger legal challenges from immigrant and civil rights groups who have criticized Biden for adopting Trump-like policies and backtracking on U.S. legal obligations to asylum seekers.

In advance of the announcement, Trump's campaign issued a statement criticizing Biden for high levels of illegal immigration and said the move to exempt unaccompanied children would encourage trafficking of minors.

In response to such concerns a Biden official said the administration is "always vigilant when it comes to any exploitation of children," and added that there were lawful pathways available to families seeking to enter the U.S.

So whether it's addressing American protesting (US policies) or immigrants leaving a country that (most likely) the US had a hand in screwing up, the answer is pretty much the same: an authority figure with a gun.