In today’s immigration news: Is the Biden administration planning to block asylum? Anonymous sources say so. Also: Minnesotans helping migrants, more.
The New York Times reports that the Biden administration is considering an executive order denying asylum to anyone who arrives in the United States without permission. That would directly contradict U.S. asylum law. When Trump tried the same tactic, the courts blocked it.
NBC reports that the Biden administration is considering making it harder to apply for or receive asylum, as well as a “last in, first out” deportation policy that would speed up deportation of new arrivals.
U.S. asylum law says: “Any alien who is physically present in the United States or who arrives in the United States (whether or not at a designated port of arrival and including an alien who is brought to the United States after having been interdicted in international or United States waters), irrespective of such alien’s status, may apply for asylum.”
[New York Times] “The order would put into effect a key policy in a bipartisan bill that Republicans thwarted earlier this month, even though it had some of the most significant border security restrictions Congress has contemplated in years.
“The bill would have essentially shut down the border to new entrants if more than an average of 5,000 migrants per day tried to cross unlawfully in the course of a week, or more than 8,500 tried to cross in a given day.
“The action under consideration by the White House would have a similar trigger for blocking asylum to new entrants, the people with knowledge of the proposal say. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. …
“’The courts were emphatic that the Trump administration could not deny asylum based simply on how one entered the country,’ [Lee Gelernt, an ACLU attorney,] said. ‘Hopefully the Biden administration is not considering recycling this patently unlawful and unworkable policy.’”
[NBC] “A congressional aide with knowledge of the deliberations said the Biden administration has yet to make a decision, but raising the bar on asylum and deporting more newly arrived migrants are considered ‘low hanging fruit’ and actions that can be taken quickly.
“The three U.S. officials said it is unclear whether the policies would be achieved through executive order or a new federal regulation, which could take months to implement. …
“An administration official confirmed that the White House is exploring a series of policy options, but said that doesn’t guarantee any will come to pass.”
And in other news
Interfaith Action, which has previously worked with Twin Cities faith communities to provide overnight shelter for homeless people, will do so again–and this time with a focus on helping refugees from Central America and other countries. New arrivals are estimated to make up half of the Twin Cities homeless population. The Sahan Journal article includes information about needed supplies and donations.
[Sahan Journal] “According to Interfaith Action CEO Liliana Letran-Garcia, Hennepin County family shelters are at 400% capacity. …
“Letran-Garcia added that the organization is working with about 17 houses of worship, including churches and a synagogue, in Ramsey County to serve 60 to 80 individuals referred by neighboring Hennepin County. Each month, two to three houses of worship will host 20 to 24 emergency shelter beds.
“Each house of worship will rotate every one to three months. There will also be on-site volunteers at each shelter, some of whom are Spanish speakers.”
Private, for-profit prison corporations continue to rake in billions from contracts to detain migrants, The GEO Group reported $2.41 billion in income 2023, with $113.8 million in profit. The profit margin would have been even higher, but GEO used some of its profits to pay down debt.
[Newsweek] “[An ACLU report] found that more than 90 percent of individuals in ICE detention are now housed in facilities operated by private entities, marking an increase in the use of corporations for immigration detention purposes. …
‘”The expansion of immigration detention under the Trump administration, which saw a 50 percent increase in the system’s capacity through contracts that often guaranteed minimum payments to private contractors, set a precedent that the Biden administration has yet to reverse, the ACLU said, which has perpetuated and exacerbated the reliance on private entities for detention services.”
In addition to its spending more than $10 billion on Operation Lone Star’s razor wire, National Guard troops, and now beginning construction of a military base near Eagle Pass, Texas has spent heavily on busing migrants to Democratic cities.
[Houston Public Media] “Texas has transported over 102,000 migrants to New York, Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
“But the initiative has also come with a hefty price tag. Records obtained by The Texas Newsroom under the Texas Public Information Act show that as of Jan. 24, the state has spent over $148 million to bus migrants to predominantly Democratic cities. The price tag grows every day.”
Immigration news 
It will be “a long haul effort” to achieve justice for asylum seekers. Sadly, wrangling efforts made by both partisan parties only made it harder to make achievable change possible.
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