The government will accept public comment on the proposal until March 27, with an eye toward having it in place in time for the end of Title 42 on May 11. The policy is currently set to expire after two years.
In the first two years of Biden’s presidency, only approximately 37,000 refugees were admitted into the US—less than any president since the US refugee resettlement program began in 1980.
Migrants have been expelled from the United States more than 2.4 million times since the rule took effect in March 2020, denying migrants rights to seek asylum under US and international law on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Immigration advocates have reported seeing border patrol admit Ukrainian refugees into the US without question while turning away migrants from Central America and the Caribbean.
The Biden administration said Friday it has begun phasing out the use of a pandemic-related rule that allows migrants to be expelled without an opportunity.
“I had a home in Michoacán, a good life,” Rosario said. “My husband and I got married and we built a beautiful life together, but we had to leave. We dropped everything in order to just feel secure again.”