Immigration advocates in Maine are criticizing President Biden's move to sharply curtail the right to seek asylum at the southern border.
The executive action would largely shutdown down the right to seek asylum at the southern border when unauthorized crossings rise above an average of 2,500 per day across a seven day period, allowing border agents to swiftly turn people away.
The rule carves out some exceptions, including for individuals facing "imminent and extreme threat to life or safety," victims of severe human trafficking, and unaccompanied children.
The border would reopen to asylum seekers after the number of crossings falls below an average of 1,500 daily crossings between ports of entry.
The Portland-based Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project calls the move an extremist attack on asylum seekers. The group said the rule would force people to take more dangerous journeys to reach the U.S., or leave them "trapped in harm's way while stranded in Mexico waiting for a chance to exercise their rights."
The Biden Administration said it is pursuing the rule after Congressional Republicans, at the urging of former President Donald Trump, killed a bipartisan border security and immigration reform bill earlier this year.
