President Joe Biden’s executive order to limit illegal crossings on the southern border is full of exemptions for migrants who claim asylum, an internal memo from Immigration and Customs Enforcement obtained by the Washington Free Beacon shows.
The memo outlines the intent of the executive order, which is to "significantly increase the consequences in place for noncitizens who cross irregularly." The goal, the memo states, is to "decrease encounter rates at the southern border."
But even after the border is allegedly shut down after 2,500 average illegal crossings a day over the course of the week, a number of migrants may still enter the United States. Any "noncitizen," the memo states, may be permitted to enter under "urgent humanitarian" conditions.
A copy of the memo can be seen here.
Those "humanitarian" conditions, according to the memo, include asylum claims. If a migrant claims a fear of "acute medical emergency," "an imminent and extreme threat to life or safety," or is a "victim of a severe trafficking in persons," they may enter the country. Deportation officers stationed on the southern border, Department of Homeland Security guidelines state, "will not determine whether noncitizens are subject to an exception to the limitation of asylum eligibility."
Even after a migrant is placed in expedited removal, the memo states, he may still claim a "fear of return." Examples of those fears, which the memo states may be non-verbal, include "I am afraid to go to [country]." At that point, the migrant would be temporarily relieved of an immediate deportation.
In Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities where migrants are detained for expedited removal, signage must be visible in various languages that inform non-citizens of how they can "claim a fear of return or an intention to seek asylum or related protection."
In his announcement of the new policy, Biden, who previously claimed he could take no executive action to stem the flow on the southern border, said the executive order was necessary because "there is a worldwide migrant crisis and if the United States doesn’t secure our border, there’s no limit to the number of people who may try to come here." Law enforcement has recorded more than eight million illegal border crossings since Biden took office.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services didn't immediately return a request for comment.