The Biden administration is considering resuming a policy of detaining migrant families who enter the US illegally.
When President Joe Biden campaigned for the White House, he promised to reverse many existing immigration policies under the guise of compassion. Family detention is one of the policies that Biden abolished. Migrant families would be detained under the policy if they illegally entered the United States, but under Biden, the families are released and tracked.
However, as the border crisis worsens, Biden is being forced to reconsider more restrictive policies, including family detention, according to the New York Times.
Because Title 42, which allows the government to expedite migrant expulsions, expires in two months, the policy is being reconsidered.
“No decisions have been made as we prepare for the lifting of the Title 42 Public Health Order,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. “The administration will continue to process migrants in the following order: “
While the potential policy change is being framed as a return to Trump-era policies, NBC News pointed out that family detention was first implemented under Barack Obama.
Last month, Biden announced a strict new policy that would bar migrants from seeking asylum if they entered the United States illegally.
According to the New York Times, the policy “would allow rapid deportation of anyone who failed to request protection from another country while en route to the United States or who did not notify border authorities of their plans to seek asylum through a mobile app.” The policy would go into effect in May, following the expiration of Title 42.
