Rights group sues over Biden rule curbing asylum at U.S.-Mexico border

[May 12, 2023]  By Ted Hesson
 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Immigration advocates represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a legal challenge on Thursday minutes before a U.S. regulation restricting access to asylum at U.S.-Mexico border was set to take effect.

A group of migrants cross a canal near the U.S.-Mexico border fence as they intend to turn themselves in to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents before the lifting of Title 42, in Tijuana, Mexico May 11, 2023. REUTERS/Jorge Duenes

In a motion filed before a federal judge in California, the groups want to re-open an existing lawsuit over similar restrictions implemented by Republican former President Donald Trump and update the case to target the new regulation issued by President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

The groups said the Biden regulation "dramatically curtails the availability of asylum in the United States" and mirrored similar Trump-era policies blocked in court.

The strict new asylum regulation is a key part of Biden's strategy to address a possible rise in illegal immigration as COVID-19 restrictions, known as Title 42, ended at midnight on Thursday.

Tens of thousands of migrants have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally in recent days, with some saying they were worried Biden's new regulation would be more strict.

(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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