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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 1 OcTOber 2024
Biden administration doubles down on tough asylum restrictions at

border

By REBECCA SANTANA The administration has
Associated Press touted its asylum restric-
WASHINGTON (AP) — The tions, saying they have led
Biden administration said to serious drops in the num-
Monday it is making asylum ber of migrants coming to
restrictions at the southern the southern border. The
border even tougher, as it’s Department of Homeland
increasingly eager to show Security said Monday that
voters uneasy over immi- since the changes were
gration that it is taking a announced in June, the
hard stance on border se- daily number of people en-
curity. countered by Border Patrol
The new rules, which tough- between the legal border
en restrictions announced crossings has fallen over
in June, bar migrants from 50%.
being granted asylum In a statement announcing
when U.S. officials deem the new rules, DHS called
that the southern border is on Congress to do more
overwhelmed. to solve immigration prob-
Under the previous rules, lems.
the U.S. could restrict asy- Border security and immi-
lum access when the num- gration are a key weakness
ber of migrants trying to for the Biden administration
enter the country between Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris talks with John Modlin, the chief and Vice President Kama-
the official border crossings patrol agent for the Tucson Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol, right, and Blaine Bennett, the U.S. la Harris, the Democratic
hit 2,500 per day. The daily Border Patrol Douglas Station border patrol agent in charge, as she visits the U.S. border with presidential nominee.
Mexico in Douglas, Ariz., Friday, Sept. 27, 2024.
numbers had to average Associated Press Republican presidential
below 1,500 per day for a nominee Donald Trump
week in order for the restric- into effect on Tuesday, will raising the question of why sustained and not due to and others from his party
tions to be lifted. make it much more difficult the administration felt the a one-time event. The offi- have hammered away at
The version rolled out Mon- to lift the restrictions and need to make them even cial spoke on condition of the high numbers of mi-
day says the daily numbers allow people entering the tougher now. The seven- anonymity to brief report- grants who’ve come to
will have to be below 1,500 country between the offi- day average has gotten ers about the tighter re- the southern border under
for nearly a month before cial border crossings even- down to about 1,800 mi- strictions before they were the Biden administration,
the restrictions can be lift- tually to apply for asylum in grant encounters per day, made public. saying the White House
ed. And the administration the U.S. the Department of Home- Immigration advocates al- and Harris haven’t done
is now counting all chil- But the restrictions imple- land Security said. ready had harshly criticized enough to restrict migra-
dren toward that number, mented in June have nev- A senior administration of- the restrictions announced tion and secure the border.
whereas previously only mi- er been lifted because the ficial said Monday that the in June, saying the admin- Harris visited a border re-
grant children from Mexico numbers of border encoun- longer timeline was nec- istration was slashing away gion of Arizona on Friday,
were counted. ters have never gotten low essary to make sure that at vital protections for peo- her first visit as the Demo-
These changes, which go enough for long enough, drops in immigration are ple fleeing persecution. cratic nominee. q

The U.S. is sending a few thousand more troops to the Middle East

to boost security

By TARA COPP and LOLITA C. BALDOR Israel and Hezbollah.
Associated Press The additional personnel includes squad-
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is sending a rons of F-15E, F-16, and F-22 fighter jets and
“few thousand” troops to the Middle East A-10 attack aircraft, and the personnel
to bolster security and to defend Israel if needed to support them.
necessary, the Pentagon said Monday. The jets were supposed to rotate in and
The announcement follows word that Is- replace the squadrons already there. In-
rael has already launched limited raids stead, both the existing and new squad-
across the border into Lebanon. rons will remain in place to double the air-
The additional forces would raise the total power on hand.
number of troops in the region to as many On Sunday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Aus-
as 43,000. tin announced that he was temporarily ex-
The increased presence will involve mul- tending the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier
tiple fighter jet and attack aircraft squad- strike group and its embarked air wing in
rons, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina the region. A U.S. official said the extension
Singh told reporters. U.S. officials said the will be for about a month. A second car-
total includes small numbers of other rier, the USS Harry S. Truman, departed Vir-
troops to augment the presence as well. ginia last week and is enroute to Europe.
It follows recent strikes in Lebanon and the It will head to the Mediterranean Sea and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks in Greenwich, London,
assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan will again provide a two-carrier presence Sept. 26, 2024.
Nasrallah, a significant escalation in the in the broader region. It’s not expected to Associated Press
war in the Middle East, this time between arrive for at least another week.q