US President Joe Biden’s asylum policies have been decried by immigration advocates as “cruel, unlawful and ineffective.”
More than 100 organisations in a letter addressed the Democratic president urged him to restore the ability of all migrants to claim asylum in the US.
Biden has reversed many of the restrictive policies of his Republican predecessor, former President Donald Trump.
But the Democratic president has kept an order known as Title 42, one of Trump’s most limiting measures, which allows US authorities to expel migrants caught crossing the border back to Mexico.
Some Democrats have pressed Biden to end Title 42 and advocates for asylum seekers have said the administration’s actions contradict what Biden promised.
White House spokesperson Vedant Patel said the administration deferred to health experts on decisions related to Title 42, which was issued by the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Thursday that the US would expand an online asylum registration system in the hopes asylum seekers will apply remotely but did not specify which asylum seekers would be eligible to use the online system.
