CBS News
Under Biden border move, fewer migrants are released into the U.S. or screened for asylum
President Biden’s move to partially suspend asylum processing at the southern border has led to a dramatic drop in the number of migrants released into the U.S. interior or screened for humanitarian protection, official government statistics show.
In early June, Mr. Biden, citing the record levels of illegal border crossings over the past years, invoked a sweeping executive authority to disqualify most migrants from U.S. asylum, making it easier for immigration officials to deport those entering the country illegally.
A months-long downward trend in unauthorized border crossings accelerated after Mr. Biden’s order took effect. In July, the number of migrants illegally crossing the southern border between official entry points plummeted to 56,400, the lowest level in nearly 4 years, according to federal statistics. U.S. officials have also attributed the marked decrease to rising summer temperatures and a crackdown by Mexican officials on migrants trekking north.
Newly-released government figures show Mr. Biden’s asylum crackdown, the most restrictive by a Democratic president, has ushered in a seismic shift in how migrants are processed at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Migrant releases plunge
One main change has been a steep decline in the number of migrants being released by Border Patrol, a practice that U.S. officials have perceived as a “pull factor” for migration, as those who are released can usually stay in the U.S. for years, regardless of the validity of their asylum claims, because the immigration courts face a backlog of millions of cases.
In July, Border Patrol released 12,000 migrants with notices to appear in immigration court, down from 28,000 in June and 62,000 in May, before Mr. Biden’s asylum changes, according to Customs and Border Protection data. In December 2023, during a record-breaking spike in migration, Border Patrol released 192,000 migrants with court notices.
The sharp decrease in releases has coincided with a significant jump in the percentage of migrants placed in “expedited removal” proceedings. Those proceedings allow officials to quickly deport recent border crossers who don’t claim asylum or who fail asylum interviews.
In the months before Mr. Biden’s move to severely restrict asylum, only a quarter or less of all migrants apprehended by Border Patrol were placed in expedited removal proceedings, mainly because the government did not have the resources and manpower to detain and screen everyone crossing into the U.S. illegally.
In July, nearly 28,000, or roughly 50%, of the 56,000 migrants apprehended by Border Patrol that month were processed for expedited removal, agency figures show. That’s up from 43% in June and 25% in May, according to the data.
More than 100,000 migrants have been deported or returned to Mexico or their home countries since Mr. Biden’s partial ban on asylum claims took effect, according to Department of Homeland Security data.
Access to asylum is sharply limited
Under U.S. and international law, asylum is designed to offer legal protection to foreigners who are fleeing persecution based on certain grounds, such as their political views, religion or membership in a social group. Poverty is not a ground for asylum.
If migrants placed in expedited removal proceedings say they fear being persecuted if deported, they must be referred to undergo a so-called “credible fear” screening with an asylum officer. If they pass these interviews, migrants are allowed to seek asylum in front of an immigration judge, and if they fail, they can be generally deported.
Since Mr. Biden’s partial ban on asylum, much fewer migrants are being screened by U.S. asylum officers. That’s because in addition to making most migrants ineligible for asylum, the rules that implemented Mr. Biden’s order in June enacted another major change.
Jose Luis Gonzalez / REUTERS
Those rules instructed immigration officials to stop asking migrants whether they fear being harmed before deporting them, a question they were supposed to ask before Mr. Biden’s order. Under the new process, only migrants who affirmatively express fear of being harmed are referred to the asylum screenings.
Following the change, the percentage of migrants processed under expedited removal who were recorded manifesting fear of being persecuted has plunged to 24%, down from the 55% average before Mr. Biden’s asylum crackdown, according to a federal court declaration on Friday by Assistant Homeland Security Secretary for Border and Immigration Policy Royce Murray.
In the four months before Mr. Biden’s order, U.S. asylum officers received between 17,000 and 20,000 referrals to screen migrants per month. That number dropped to 7,100 in June and 1,900 in July, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services figures show.
Even if migrants received an asylum officer interview, the new rules make the screenings harder to pass, as migrants are generally only screened for more limited forms of humanitarian protection that, unlike asylum, do not offer beneficiaries a path to permanent legal status.
Officials warn of influx if order is lifted
Mr. Biden’s asylum order contains some exemptions. For example, it does not apply to unaccompanied children, who have to be sent to government-run shelters under U.S. law, or migrants who get an appointment, via a phone app, to be processed at an official port of entry.
In July, the U.S. processed more than 38,000 of migrants who received appointments through that app, known as CBP One, federal data shows. After security vetting, these migrants are generally allowed into the U.S. to apply for work permits, while courts review their cases.
The Biden administration’s asylum crackdown, by its own terms, would stop if the seven-day average of daily illegal crossings dips to 1,500. While the average has gotten close to that threshold, border crossings appeared to have plateaued in August, internal federal figures show.
Mr. Biden’s executive action is also at risk of being struck down in federal court. The American Civil Liberties Union and other immigrant rights groups have said in a lawsuit that the rule violates U.S. asylum law, arguing it mirrors a Trump-era policy that courts declared illegal.
In a legal memo Friday opposing the ACLU’s lawsuit, the Justice Department warned that internal projections point to daily illegal border crossings spiking to between 3,400 and 6,900 in the coming months if the asylum crackdown is blocked, compared to the 1,800 average in July.
Remarkably, Texas, which has filed lawsuits against virtually every major Biden administration immigration policy, is trying to intervene in the ACLU case in defense of Mr. Biden’s asylum crackdown, calling his action “reasonable” in a legal memo on Friday.
On Friday, White House spokesperson Angelo Fernandez Hernandez credited the president’s “decisive actions” for the marked drop in migrant crossings.
But migrant rights advocates say Mr. Biden’s policy has had dire consequences for migrants. Christina Asencio, director of research at the advocacy group Human Rights First, said she has documented cases of asylum-seekers being deported from the U.S. without a chance to plead their cases.
“I would ask, what does working mean? Does working mean summarily removing someone without access to due process, without the access to the statutorily required fear screening? Does working mean trapping them in Mexico?” Asencio asked.
CBS News
Harris tells Philadelphia church election will “decide the fate of our nation for generations to come”
Vice President Kamala Harris is back in Philadelphia Sunday as the countdown to election day nears one week.
Harris, who spent several days in the Delaware Valley over the past week, spoke at the Church of Christian Compassion in Philadelphia on Sunday morning and will hold a campaign rally in the city later in the night.
“In just nine days we have the power to decide the fate of our nation for generations to come,” she told the congregation.
Several minutes into her speech, some shouting broke out in the crowd. Harris paused during the disruption. “That’s why we fight for our democracy. Every voice is important,” she said while the outburst was quieted.
Harris went on to encourage the Philadelphia church to lean on faith in the days leading up to the election, and urged worshippers to use their feet to get to the polls.
“Here in Pennsylvania, right now each of us has an opportunity to make a difference. Because in this moment we do face a real question. What kind of country to we we want to live in,” she said. “The great thing about living in a democracy is we the people have the choice to answer that question. So let us answer not just with our words, but with our works.”
On Wednesday, Oct. 23, Harris visited the Famous 4th Street Deli in Philadelphia’s Queen Village neighborhood before attending a town hall in Delaware County. Earlier in the week, the vice president sat down with former Congresswoman Liz Cheney in Chester County in the first of three moderated conversations in battleground states.
During that conversation, Harris appealed to Republican voters who are on the fence about voting for former President Donald Trump, and claimed he used the presidency as a way to “demean and to divide” Americans.
“I think people are exhausted with that, rightly,” Harris said. “And it does not lead to the strength of our nation to tell American people that we must be suspicious of one another, distrust one another.”
On Monday, Harris will harness the star power of some of her biggest supporters during a benefit concert at Temple University’s Liacouras Center, according to multiple sources.
Twenty-time Grammy winner Bruce Springsteen will headline a concert and a rally with former President Barack Obama as part of the Harris campaign’s effort to mobilize voters in the final weeks of the 2024 presidential election.
Speaking to CBS News Philadelphia’s Joe Holden, Harris said she’s “honored” to have Obama’s support on the campaign trail. “And people like Bruce Springsteen, to have their support, and of course he is an American icon, I think it just shows the breadth and depth of the support that we have,” Harris said.
When asked if any other big name supporters are planning to turn out for the event Monday, Harris said with a laugh, “I have nothing to report at this moment. Stay tuned, however.”
Earlier this month, Springsteen endorsed Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
The Indiana Fever fired coach Christie Sides on Sunday, the organization announced.
Sides went 33-47 in her two seasons with the squad, including going 20-20 this season. The Fever made the playoffs as the sixth seed and were swept in the first round by the Connecticut Sun.
Indiana is the sixth team to make a coaching change this offseason, joining Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington and Los Angeles. All of the coaches let go had three years or less experience.
Jessica Hill / AP
Whoever takes over the Fever will have a strong young core to work with, led by Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston. The pair have won the last two WNBA Rookie of the Year awards.
“We are incredibly thankful to Coach Sides for embracing the challenge of leading us through an integral transition period over the last two seasons, while also positioning us well for future growth,” Fever president of basketball operations Kelly Krauskopf said.
“While decisions like these are never easy, it is also imperative that we remain bold and assertive in the pursuit of our goals, which includes maximizing our talent and bringing another WNBA championship back to Indiana. Coach Sides was an incredible representative of the Fever and our community, and we wish her nothing but success in the future.”
Krauskopf came back to the Fever earlier this month after spending time with the Indiana Pacers.
Ashley Landis / AP
Sides was a longtime assistant in the league, spending time with Chicago (2011-16), the Fever (2017-19) and Atlanta (2022) before getting the head coaching job. She replaced Marianne Stanley and her interim successor, Carlos Knox, who coached in the 2022 season.
Sides had two years left on her contract.
The Fever haven’t had a head coach last for more than three years since Lin Dunn, who coached from 2008-14. Since then, they’ve had Stephanie White (2015-16), Pokey Chatman (2017-19) and Stanley (2020-22).
Indiana had a brutal schedule to start the season and lost eight of their first nine games. The Fever finally got going after the Olympic break, winning seven of eight to get into playoff contention.
CBS News
Pennsylvania top election official says that 2020 ligation upheld that “elections were accurate”
Pennsylvania’s top election official said Sunday that the commonwealth’s 2020 elections were “accurate,” while saying Pennsyvlania is “not susceptible to any sort of widespread voter fraud” — and he said officials are preparing with heightened security to combat threats as Election Day draws near.
“Time and time again, in many dozens of cases in 2020, every one of those cases upheld that our elections were accurate and that we’re not susceptible to any sort of widespread voter fraud or anything like that,” Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Al Schmidt said Sunday on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
The issue of election integrity is top of mind in battleground Pennsylvania, where last week, the Lancaster County district attorney reported incidents of voter registration fraud among a group of around 2,500 ballots. Schmidt said the country reached out to his office “right away” for guidance and is pursuing an investigation “responsibly.” And the top election official said he’s working with counties to provide the resources needed “so that we have a free, fair, safe and secure election in 2024 just as we had in 2020.”
Meanwhile, election officials are combating threats to election workers. Schmidt said in 2020, officials had to “scramble to figure out when threats were incoming,” while outlining the changes put in place since then, including an election threat task force made up of federal, state and local law enforcement partners and election administration. He noted that open lines of communication and clear responsibilities have also made the commonwealth better prepared.
“So that if any of the ugliness returns that we experienced In 2020, everyone will be ready,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt committed to certifying the election results even if the winner is of the opposite political party, as did Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, who also appeared on “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
Fontes said the state’s safety and security protocols surrounding election results tabulation are a stark departure from recent years.
“It’s absolutely, completely different from 2020. In fact, I remember in 2018 our greatest security threat was a rattlesnake in the parking lot at the Pinnacle Peak Precinct,” Fontes said. “So this is a radically different set of circumstances that we are dealing with, but we are prepared, and we’re going to have a secure election.”
Harris tells Philadelphia church election will “decide the fate of our nation for generations to come”
Indiana Fever fire coach Christie Sides after Caitlin Clark’s breakout season
Pennsylvania top election official says that 2020 ligation upheld that “elections were accurate”
Harris tells Philadelphia church election will “decide the fate of our nation for generations to come”
Indiana Fever fire coach Christie Sides after Caitlin Clark’s breakout season