The Biden administration, desperate to limit border crossings after a major pandemic-era measure expires later Thursday

1159 EDT

has reduced the amount of time asylum seekers have to find lawyers before their crucial initial interviews with immigration officials.

The Trump administration enacted a similar policy in 2019, but that effort was later blocked by a federal court. The move is the latest example of Biden deploying a Trump-style plan in an effort to manage large numbers of border crossings.

Biden’s version of the policy

,

outlined in an email sent to asylum seekers on Wednesday and obtained by The Times, gives asylum seekers at least 24 hours to find and consult a lawyer once they receive information about the process. Before the change, migrants had at least 48 hours from arrival at a Department of Homeland Security facility to find a lawyer.

The move could allow officers to more quickly remove migrants who fail their initial screening, otherwise known as a credible fear interview.

Title 42, the pandemic-era policy that allowed border agents to quickly return migrants, expires just before midnight on Thursday and officials expect a spike in the number of migrants attempting to cross the border.

Border agents already estimated more than 10,000 migrants in a single day on Tuesday, according to internal data obtained by the Times. As of Wednesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection had more than 28,000 migrants in custody, significantly more than the facilities could hold, the data showed.

In support of the department’s goal of providing faster assistance to those who qualify, while expediting the removal of those who do not qualify, effective immediately the minimum time between receipt of the non-citizens of Form M- 444, Credible fear interview information, and the credible fear interview will last 24 hours, a clue

USCIS US Citizenship and Immigration Services

official at asylum wrote in the email announcing the change.

The directive also makes it clear that migrants requesting to reschedule their initial interview must demonstrate extraordinary circumstances for doing so so as not to unreasonably delay the overall process.

USCIS will “continually assess” whether a return to the 48-hour waiting period is appropriate, according to the email.

Biden administration officials believe that deterrence, through swift deportations and a policy that limits asylum to those who cross without permission, will allow

it them

to manage the increasing migration at the border.

In credible fear interviews, migrants who have convinced an asylum officer that there is a significant chance that they can demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country usually remain in the US and take their asylum cases to immigration court.

Migrants who cannot leave that bar are usually deported.

The decision to shorten the time makes it clear that the Biden administration is doing everything it can to speed up the process

Pl people

for deportation rather than giving them a chance to really have access to a fair trial and a fair chance to have their asylum applications reviewed, said Taylor Levy, an immigration attorney who specializes in border cases.

The so-called consultation period for asylum seekers is crucial, advocates said earlier.

Immigration lawyers argued

isn’t this just plain true? less time limits your ability to do this

YES BUT WE GIVE CONTEXT ABOUT WHO WAS UPRANTED AT THE TIME AND HOW THEY FIGHTED FOR ITthat Trump’s version of the policy, which allowed migrants a workday instead of 48 hours, limited migrants’ ability to find lawyers, gather evidence and prepare for the interview.

The Trump policy was one of the first changes led by then-USCIS chief Ken Cuccinelli, who followed the Trump administration’s continued efforts to limit asylum at the border and deport more migrants. Ur Jaddou, now the bureau’s director, told BuzzFeed News that the change was part of Trump’s effort to block people from entering the US

A federal court blocked the policy after lawyers challenged the legality of Cuccinelli’s nomination.

For asylum seekers, credible fear interviews are often matters of life and death. By cutting the time it takes people to prepare for what is arguably the most important job interview of their lives, the risk of error increases even further.

said

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council,

said Thursday

. The Biden administration must stop trying to sacrifice due process and a fair chance of protection for opportunity.

The Biden administration has said it is prepared for the end of the Title 42 policy and will send troops to the border, institute policies that restrict asylum for those crossing the border without permission, deploy asylum officers and judges to detain people to help process and quickly deport those who have no right to remain in the US DHS officials have also said they will expand phone booths for migrants to consult with lawyers in custody.

The US also recently struck a deal with Mexico to allow DHS officials to return nationals from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti and Nicaragua to Mexico.

The border is not open, it has not been open and it will not be open after May 11. And the smugglers who exploit vulnerable migrants are spreading misinformation, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a recent

news press

conference. They are spreading false information, read in a way to lure vulnerable people to the southern border, and those individuals will only be sent back. To the individuals themselves who are thinking of migrating: don’t believe the smugglers.

While the government has pursued a deterrent policy, it has also opened up more slots for asylum seekers to access ports of entry and will create processing centers to help migrants determine whether they have a legal path to the US.

At the same time, the Biden administration will allow migrants from Honduras, Colombia, El Salvador and Guatemala to apply to enter the US if they qualify for a family reunification program.

The Department of Homeland Security will also continue to allow immigrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela who have verified US sponsors to enter the country legally.