The White House on Tuesday urged potential Central American asylum seekers not to rush across the US-Mexico border as President Biden ends former President Donald Trump’s “Stay in Mexico” policy.
Under the 2018 policy, asylum seekers arriving at the border with Mexico had to wait for a decision on their application before entering the US.
Candidates currently awaiting a decision will be admitted to the US under Biden’s phase out.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and his deputy Liz Sherwood-Randall said in a statement that the initial rollback of “Remain in Mexico” will only affect the 71,000 asylum seekers already part of the program.
“If you seek entry into the US and do not have an active MPP case, you will be immediately expelled and not allowed to stay in the United States,” they said.
In December, then-president-elect Biden said he was concerned about the abrupt relaxation of Trump’s immigration policy or he would trigger “2 million people at our border.”
Proponents of the “Stay in Mexico” policy say it prevents asylum seekers from entering the US, despite knowing their claim of prosecution is likely to be rejected. Some asylum seekers in the US are issued a work permit when their application is processed.
Opponents of the policy say Northern Mexico could be just as dangerous as the crime-ridden Central American countries the applicants are fleeing to.
Sullivan and Sherwood-Randall said new asylum seekers should not plan to report to the border immediately.
“We warn people who want to emigrate to the United States that our borders are not open and that this is only the first stage in the government’s work to reopen access to an orderly asylum procedure,” said White House officials.
“This new process applies to individuals returned to Mexico under the MPP program who have cases pending before the Executive Office for Immigration Review.”
They said, “Persons outside the United States who have not been returned to Mexico under MPP or who have no active immigration lawsuits are not eligible to participate in this first phase of this program and must await further instructions.”