The US announces a new rule that gives asylum officials the ability to turn away more migrants earlier in the process

The Biden administration on Thursday announced a new rule that would allow immigration officials to more quickly identify and deport migrants who do not qualify for U.S. asylum earlier in the process.

The Department of Homeland Security regulation would apply to migrants seeking asylum after illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. CBS News reported the government’s plans earlier this week. Currently, as a proposed ordinance, the proposal must go through a public comment period before going into effect.

It would direct government asylum officials to raise certain barriers to asylum that are already part of U.S. law during so-called credible fear interviews, the first step in the yearslong asylum process. Those who pass these interviews are allowed to seek asylum before an immigration judge, while those who fail are quickly deported.

On a call with reporters, a senior homeland security official said this would impact migrants who pose a “significant threat” to public safety and national security, such as suspected terrorists. These are migrants “we are very concerned about,” the official said, but the size of the population is “limited.”

Migrants who should not be granted asylum under U.S. law include those who could pose a threat to public safety or national security. The rule would allow officials to refuse and deport migrants in these categories shortly after they cross the border.

In addition, DHS also issued new guidance to asylum officials on Thursday, directing them to disqualify migrants from asylum earlier in the immigration process if they can move to other parts of their home country where they may be safe.

The new regulation, which is relatively limited in scope, is one of several measures the Biden administration has considered to limit access to the U.S. asylum system amid a spike in applications in recent years, mainly caused by migrants crossing the southern border illegally.

President Biden too is considering invoking sweeping presidential authority to implement a broader asylum restriction ahead of the November election, sources with knowledge of the deliberations told CBS News. The authority, known as 212(f), allows presidents to suspend the entry of migrants whose arrival is deemed harmful to U.S. interests. Former President Donald Trump invoked the law to justify several immigration restrictions, including a travel ban on predominantly Muslim countries.

While the newly announced settlement will not affect large numbers of migrants, it still reinforces a policy shift by Mr. Biden, who promised earlier in his presidency to “fix” the U.S. asylum system.

But after record levels of migrant apprehensions along the southern border, including more than 2 million in each of the past two years, and an attendant political backlash, the Biden administration has introduced and launched more restrictive asylum rules.