The Biden administration announced an executive action on June 4 that effectively blocks migrants’ ability to request asylum at the Southern border and authorizes border agents to immediately deport those who do not fear for their lives. 

The action goes into effect immediately, barring requests for asylum when the number of people apprehended outside of ports of entry surpasses an average of 2,500 people a day for seven consecutive days. The current daily average is 6,000 people. Immigration advocates say Biden’s executive action will spark a humanitarian crisis and endanger asylum-seekers.

“The Biden administration’s action closing the U.S.-Mexico border is violating the rights of asylum-seekers who have no ability to present with an appointment at a port of entry,” said Hannah Flamm, policy counsel at the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP). “Asylum-seekers from around the world wait in extreme danger in Mexico in hopes of obtaining one of these appointments because no one seeking protection in the U.S. wishes to not follow the rules. The problem is that the rules don’t work in reality, by design. They exclude the vast majority of people.”

To secure an appointment at a port of entry, asylum-seekers must use Customs and Border Protection’s flawed CBP One smartphone app that Flamm says “unlawfully limits access to asylum.” The number of CBP One appointments available each day is just a fraction of what’s needed. According to Flamm, there are roughly 1,450 appointments available per day across the entire border, which creates a months-long wait time to secure an appointment. As Prism previously reported, the CBP One app also only functions on smartphones with a strong signal and the most updated software, and the app requires asylum-seekers to be in central or northern Mexico to secure an appointment. 

Flamm told Prism that CBP One’s appointment system is an attempt by the Biden administration to create the illusion that it’s actually possible to follow the rules and enter the U.S.

“The reality is that the CBP One appointment system affords extremely limited and delayed access to the U.S., Flamm said. “It is not lawful to curtail access to asylum based on a cell phone appointment system with daily quotas … People who are seeking this appointment wait in situations of extreme danger, and with the executive actions by the Biden administration, there are fewer mechanisms to afford urgent protection in those emergency cases when somebody cannot obtain a CBP One appointment or cannot afford to wait for their CBP One appointment.”

Prior to Biden’s executive action, if asylum-seekers met an exception related to the CBP One 

app, such as not speaking the languages offered through the application, there was still a way to gain access to a credible fear interview and, ultimately, move through the asylum process. However, there are no more exceptions under the Biden administration’s new executive action. 

“Asylum is not designed to be a system that is international protection on an appointment-only, on a technologically savvy-only basis,” said Flamm. “Individuals who do not speak English or Spanish will be disproportionately affected. LGBTQIA+ asylum-seekers will be disproportionately affected. Haitian and [other] Black migrants will be disproportionately affected. Individuals who have been persecuted by their country’s governments will be disproportionately affected, and all survivors of trauma are going to be disproportionately affected.”

The policy, which comes amid Biden’s reelection campaign, is strikingly similar to controversial measures taken by former President Donald Trump—including the infamous Muslim Ban. Legal experts and humanitarian organizations say that summarily expelling asylum-seekers not only violates international law, but also exposes vulnerable individuals to heightened risks—including exploitation by smugglers and organized crime.

“[Before Tuesday], somebody seeking protection, fleeing for their lives, could have attempted to overcome enormous obstacles to have a chance at seeking asylum. As of the early hours of [June 5], the obstacles are vastly greater,” said Flamm. “U.S. border officials will go out of their way not to learn if somebody has a fear of persecution to have a chance at applying for a protection … There’s no official who’s going to ask them if they would face persecution if they were returned. And as a result, huge numbers of people risk being refouled, returned to countries where they face extreme danger.”

According to reports from IRAP, the human impact of asylum bans were starkly illustrated under the Trump administration. IRAP client “Marlo” and his daughter “Nadia,” for example, were turned away during Title 42—even though Nadia’s medical condition prevented her from walking or eating by herself and caused multiple daily seizures. 

Similarly, asylum-seekers like “Maylin,” whose partner attempted to kill her in Guatemala and kidnap her children as they waited in Mexico to request asylum, could find themselves barred from entering the U.S. under Biden’s executive action, jeopardizing their safety and that of their families. Some asylum-seekers are running out of places to turn. “Ruth,” who fled persecution in Venezuela, originally pursued asylum in Mexico before a family member was arbitrarily detained, forcing them to flee for the U.S. She and her family now face an uncertain future under the impending border closure, which would bar them from requesting asylum in the U.S.

Flamm anticipates that Biden’s executive action will be challenged in court. The American Civil Liberties Union announced June 4 that they plan to challenge the action.

Meanwhile, organizations like IRAP continue to provide legal services, advice, information, and counsel to asylum-seekers.

“The advocacy community is pushing back against yesterday’s executive actions on multiple fronts,” Flamm said. “The legal basis for yesterday’s proclamation and rule are sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act that have been found unlawful in federal court before. We anticipate—and I would argue even President Biden anticipates—that yesterday’s actions will be challenged in court and could be enjoined.”