After promising to expand asylum, Biden moves to limit access amid record border arrivals

Washington — During his second week in office, President Biden gave officials nine months to issue regulations that could make it easier for migrants fleeing gang or domestic violence to secure asylum, a policy that would signal a clear repudiation of Trump administration attempts to close off the U.S. asylum system.

But two years later, amid record arrivals along the U.S.-Mexico border, the Biden administration has yet to issue the rules that could expand asylum eligibility. Instead, the administration finds itself expanding a Trump-era border policy that blocks certain migrants from requesting asylum and proposing limits on asylum eligibility.

Since Mr. Biden commissioned the asylum eligibility rules in a February 2021 executive order, there have been disagreements within his administration over how generous the regulations should be, three people with direct knowledge of the debates told CBS News, requesting anonymity to describe internal deliberations.

Some top administration officials have voiced concern about issuing rules that could make additional migrants eligible for asylum and make it more difficult to deport them while the administration is focused on reducing unlawful border crossings, the sources said.