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A2 u.s. news
Friday 12 May 2023
House Republicans pass new asylum restrictions as Title 42 ends

By STEPHEN GROVES program is a cornerstone
Associated Press of Biden's immigration ef-
WASHINGTON (AP) — forts, allowing migrants
House Republicans passed from those countries to ap-
a sweeping bill Thursday to ply to come to the U.S. for
build more U.S.-Mexico bor- two years legally and work.
der wall and impose new The unwieldy nature of im-
restrictions on asylum seek- migration legislation has
ers, creating a hard-line befuddled Congress for
counter to President Joe decades, but there is a
Biden's policies just as mi- growing conversation in
grants are amassing along the Senate on the issue.
the border with the end of A small group of House and
coronavirus pandemic re- Senate lawmakers hopes
strictions. the House bill could give
The bill has virtually no momentum for a separate
chance of becoming law. package in the works that
Democrats, who have a would incorporate aggres-
narrow hold on the Sen- A U.S. Border Patrol agent instructs a group of undocumented immigrants where to line up near a sive border enforcement
ate, have decried the ag- U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint Thursday, May 11, 2023 in Yuma, Ariz. with expanding legal im-
gressive measures in the Associated Press migration through work vi-
bill as "cruel" and "anti- sas, as well as potentially a
immigrant," and Biden has weigh whether to cross House Speaker Kevin Mc- the legislation neared final path to citizenship for un-
already promised he would and U.S. officials use a new Carthy called the package form Wednesday, it had to documented immigrants
veto it. set of policies that aim to "the strongest border secu- be amended to appease who came to the U.S. as
But the House GOP point- clamp down on illegal im- rity bill this country has ever concerns from the House children.
edly voted on the bill the migration while offering seen," saying in a speech Freedom Caucus and oth- "The bill that we're getting,
same day as the expiration more legal pathways. on the House floor that er lawmakers. I think, is a good starting
of Title 42, a public health Republicans have sought to "meanwhile, we are seeing U.S. and international law point," said Sen. Thom Tillis,
emergency rule that al- slam Biden for the increase a very different record from give migrants the right to a North Carolina Republi-
lowed border authorities in illegal immigration during President Biden." seek asylum from political, can. "It, by itself, would not
to quickly return many mi- his tenure. Passing the bill It took months, however, religious or racial persecu- get 60 votes to get out of
grants who crossed the would ensure House GOP for Republicans to push the tion, but conservatives say here."
border illegally. Biden has lawmakers can say they bill through the House amid many people take advan- Any final bill would need
conceded that the south- did their part to deliver on sometimes public feuds tage of the current system bipartisan support to pass
ern border will be "chaotic a campaign promise to se- between GOP lawmakers to live and work in the U.S. the Senate and agreement
for a while" as migrants cure the border. over the legislation. Even as while they wait for their asy- from House Republicans on
lum claim to be processed significant changes.
in court. Sen. Dick Durbin, the No.
The package would re- 2 Senate Democrat, is in-
turn to many of the same troducing legislation that
policies pursued by former would assist border officials
President Donald Trump, and speed up the asy-
such as building walls lum application process.
along the border. It would And Tillis joined with Sen.
also restrict asylum by re- Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona
quiring migrants to cross independent who accepts
legally, pay a $50 fee and committee assignments
meet more stringent re- from Democrats, to push
quirements to show in initial a bill that would resurrect
interviews that they have the government's power
a credible fear of persecu- to quickly expel migrants,
tion in their home country. without processing their
"This extreme MAGA Re- asylum claims, for another
publican piece of legisla- two years.
tion will throw out children "It's clear that the Biden
who are fleeing, in many administration, while it had
cases, extreme violence two years to prepare for
and persecution," Rep. the end of Title 42, failed to
Hakeem Jeffries, the top do so," Sinema told report-
House Democrat, said at ers.
a Thursday news confer- "And in the last several
ence. "It will build a medi- weeks, I've had the unfor-
eval border wall that is a tunate job of communicat-
14th-century solution to a ing on a daily basis, some-
21st-century problem." times even hourly basis,
The bill would also scrap a with the sheriffs, the Border
program that has allowed Patrol agents, mayors and
U.S. officials to accept or even the governor of Ari-
quickly turn away some zona to figure out how we
migrants from Venezuela, can prepare to deal with
Haiti and Nicaragua. The this crisis."q