The Biden administration is reportedly preparing to launch a program that would subject people who seek asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border to truncated fear screenings while locked up in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detention centers. Under the previous administration, over 5,000 asylum seekers were detained and rapidly deported under similar policies known as Prompt Asylum Claim Review (PACR) and Humanitarian Asylum Review Process (HARP). Reports that the Biden administration is now preparing for a new iteration of the Trump policy, which President Biden has previously condemned, follow prior announcements of its plans to increase the use of expedited removal.
National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) Executive Director Mary Meg McCarthy stated the following in response:
“President Biden rebuked rushed asylum processing two years ago in Executive Order 14010, only to now be poised to bring back this cruel and draconian policy. The president promised hope and fairness to asylum seekers, not a Groundhog Day where we continually relive the prior administration. It is past time for this administration to show the courage and leadership to treat people fleeing persecution with dignity. Rapid deportation and CBP detention are not solutions we need to uphold our obligations to protect asylum.”
Read NIJC's explainer about expedited removal and the administration's reported plans