Asylum restrictions are justified given "sheer number" of migrant arrivals, top U.S. official says

Recently implemented restrictions on asylum that have been denounced by migrant advocates are justified given the "sheer number of people" who have journeyed to the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years, a top Biden administration official told CBS News on Thursday.

The Biden administration rule, enacted following the expiration of the Title 42 pandemic-era border restrictions on May 11, disqualifies migrants from asylum if they enter the U.S. without authorization after failing to seek humanitarian protection in a third country on their way to American soil. Those unable to prove they merit an exemption to the rule face being deported and banished from the U.S. for five years.

The regulation, which resembles a similar but more restrictive Trump administration rule, has been strongly criticized by progressive Democrats and advocates, who say the measure violates a law dating back to the 1980s that gave migrants the legal right to request asylum, regardless of how they entered the country.