WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced the final version of its long-awaited U.S. asylum overhaul Thursday, aiming to speed up processing at the border and alleviate backlogs throughout the country's immigration courts.
Fixing asylum, a process that can drag out for years, was one of President Joe Biden's campaign promises. The overhaul represents the most significant change to the nation's immigration system since he took office.
The new policy will take effect by late May or early June, 60 days after it's published in the Federal Register, officials said Wednesday. The change won't affect most asylum seekers as long as a pandemic-related rule limiting access at the border remains in force. But the new system will probably be in place once that rule is lifted and the uptick in asylum requests begins.
