Migrant families to face GPS monitoring, home curfew

The policy would apply to those waiting for interviews with asylum officers
Initial asylum screenings will have higher standards
Those who don't pass the interview will be deported

Updated: May 11, 2023 / 10:27 AM CDT

EL PASO, TEXAS – MAY 10: An immigrant family from Venezuela covers up during a dust storm at a makeshift immigrant camp located between the Rio Grande and the U.S.-Mexico border fence on May 10, 2023 in El Paso, Texas. The number of immigrants reaching the border has surged with the end of the U.S. government’s Covid-era Title 42 policy, which for the past three years has allowed for the quick expulsion of irregular migrants entering the country. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

(NewsNation) — A new plan from the Biden administration will put families seeking asylum under home curfew and GPS monitoring if they have crossed the border illegally.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced the plan, which is meant to act as an alternative to family detention, something the Biden administration reportedly considered as they prepare for the end of Title 42.

Title 42, first established in 1944, allows border officials to turn people away at the border and, in many cases, suspend the legal right to seek asylum because of concerns over communicable diseases. It was reinstated by former President Donald Trump during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the COVID-19 emergency over, Title 42 restrictions will be lifted and border officials are predicting a flood of migrants.

The new policy will apply to migrant families with minor children who cross the border illegally, and is meant to help ICE agents easily locate families. Those subject to the policy will have GPS monitoring and be subject to a curfew while they wait for an interview with asylum officers.

Immigrants who had to pass through a third country and failed to seek asylum there first will automatically be subject to removal under another recently announced policy. Practically speaking, that means any non-Mexican nationals who approach the border without first seeking asylum in Mexico will be ineligible for asylum.

Asylum interviews will also have higher standards than previous credible fear interviews, in an effort to reject more people in the early stages of the asylum process.

Those who fail the asylum interview will be subject to an expedited removal process. Those who pass the initial interview will still have to go through the rest of the asylum process, including appearing before a judge in immigration court, where cases can be backlogged, sometimes for years.

The new rules also impose a harsher penalty for illegal crossings than Title 42 does. Migrants turned away under Title 42 don’t go through an official removal process, meaning there is no record and no consequences if they attempt to cross again. Many migrants make repeated efforts to cross into the U.S., driving up the number of reported encounters.

Under the new rules announced by the Biden administration, those who are removed will have a five-year ban on entering the U.S. If they try, they could be subject to criminal penalties.