WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is counting on a rule change to speed up asylum decisions at the southern border and help ward off the turmoil expected to come if a measure that limits those claims is allowed to expire.
Department of Homeland Security officials will get the power to reject or approve asylum cases directly starting May 31. It’s a major shift from the current system that relies on the Justice Department’s immigration courts, where petitions often take years to be resolved.
Accelerating the asylum process could help officials cope with an expected crush of migrants if the Biden administration is eventually successful in its effort to end Title 42, a measure that allowed the Trump administration to practically shut down asylum claims under the stated goal of preventing the spread of COVID-19. A federal judge blocked the removal of Title 42 last week while a lawsuit led by a multi-state coalition of Republican attorneys general plays out.
