The United States soon will begin denying asylum to migrants who are caught illegally crossing the United States-Mexico border under a new regulation, according to officials. 

The new asylum rule is expected to be finalized by May 11, the same day that a wide-ranging COVID-19 era border restriction, Title 42, is set to expire, according to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

The regulation states that migrants will be denied asylum if they entered another country to reach the United States without requesting protection there, or if they did not use other legal methods to enter the United States.

The new regulation is part of President Biden’s plan to address a surge in illegal immigration following the end of Title 42, which allowed U.S. border agents to quickly expel many migrants to Mexico to prevent the virus’s spread in packed detention centers. 

What is Title 42 and what does its end mean for US border immigration?

What is Title 42?

Title 42 is a federal health measure enforced by the US Border Patrol. It allows the agency to kick certain migrants out of the US and return them to Mexico. This includes asylum seekers, who under international law have the legal right to make an asylum claim in America.

Currently, migrants who cross the border illegally and who are from Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua or Venezuela are subject to Title 42 and could be sent to Mexico.

How did Title 42 start?

President Donald Trump invoked the law in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue the policy. The Trump administration made the case that keeping migrants out of the country would slow down the spread of infections and maintain the safety of federal agents encountering migrants.

What has happened with Title 42 under Biden?

When President Biden took over, he continued to enforce Title 42 with one important change from his predecessor. Biden said Border Patrol agents were only allowed to expel migrants from certain countries under his direction. That meant migrants seeking asylum from countries like Cuba and Venezuela could still seek asylum if they arrived at the border and stay in the US while their cases were decided in court — unless they had a criminal record.

What is happening with Title 42 now?

Title 42 is supposed to be a health policy, not an immigration law. It will end at 11:59 p.m. May 11, when the Biden administration ends all COVID-19-related policies.

Why is it controversial?

Many have called for the policy’s end, saying it’s illegal and that international law guarantees people the right to seek asylum.

Others, like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, warn that the southern border could see up to 13,000 migrants per day crossing with the intention to stay in the country when the measure ends.

What would the end of Title 42 mean for immigration into the US?

It’s unclear exactly how many people have been expelled under Title 42 because there have been scores of people who have attempted to enter the country numerous times and been rejected again and again, but the US Border Patrol said it made an all-time high of more than 2.3 million arrests at the border in the last fiscal year. Forty percent of people who were expelled from the country were ejected under the rules of Title 42.

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Title 42’s expiration is expected to trigger a surge in migrants at the border. Roughly 90,000 migrants recently crossed the southern border just 10 days ahead of the restriction’s expiration.

The predicted surge in border crossings will be “extremely challenging,” Mayorkas said at a Brownsville, Texas, press conference.

The Biden administration has been encouraging migrants to enter the country legally and has expanded access to an app that allows migrants to schedule appointments for their border entry.

Roughly 1,000 appointments will be available per day starting May 12, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.  

With Post wires