Leir Migration Monitor: Challenges and Impacts of Migration Policy
Narrowing the Gates to Asylum
By Dr. Katrina Burgess, Director of the Henry J. Leir Institute, and Professor of Political Economy at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Tufts University and Kudrat Dutta Kontilis, Vice Chair, San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission. (We are very grateful to Felipe Navarro for his feedback on earlier drafts.)
In this piece, Burgess and Kontilis discuss the challenges faced by asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border due to the restrictive measures retained or adopted by the Biden administration.
These measures include continued reliance on Title 42 to expel migrants (until May 2023), an Asylum Processing Rule (APR) to streamline the asylum application process, a Circumvention of Lawful Pathways (CLP) Rule to limit asylum eligibility, and a Securing the Border Rule (SBR) to suspend the right to request asylum between ports of entry.
The article highlights how these rules have negatively affected asylum seekers by lengthening their wait times in Mexico, reducing their access to legal representation, and limiting their ability to claim credible fear. While acknowledging the urgency of addressing the U.S. immigration court backlog, the authors call for a more humane and effective asylum system that can adjudicate claims efficiently without denying protection to those who need it.
Read more of Dr. Katrina Burgess and Kudrat Dutta Kondilis article here: