ACLU Reaction to Biden Administration’s Changes to Most Recent Asylum Ban

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced today that it will make it harder for people to exercise their right to seek asylum by further entrenching the restrictions in its most recent ban. The announcement comes months after the American Civil Liberties Union and partners sued the Biden administration, arguing that the rule echoes the Trump administration’s previous asylum entry ban.

The rule, which was first announced in June 2024, previously barred access to asylum until the number of daily encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border falls below 1,500 people per day over a seven-day period. The changes announced today will extend the threshold period to 28 consecutive days, further restricting access to asylum at ports of entry and putting thousands of lives at risk. In addition, unaccompanied children from non-contiguous countries will now be included in the calculation of encounters, greatly increasing the likelihood that the numbers exceed the threshold and that ordinary asylum protections remain suspended.

In response to the administration’s announcement, the following statement can be attributed to Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project:

“This rule is illegal, as we have explained in our pending lawsuit. Today’s announcements do nothing to address the ongoing violations of law.”

“The asylum statute enacted by Congress recognizes that people fleeing danger should not be forced to wait and try to secure an appointment to seek asylum. The government’s abandonment of that principle is already having grave consequences for the people our laws are intended to protect.”