What the US asylum process is really like, in applicants’ own words: ‘I’ve waited 10 years’

As Biden launches the strictest border crackdown of his presidency, five asylum seekers share their battles to secure protection in the US

On Tuesday, Joe Biden unveiled the most restrictive immigration policy of his presidency with an executive order enabling the mass rejection of asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border when crossings reach certain levels.

The order would allow the US government to temporarily shut down the border when the number of people seeking entry exceeds a daily threshold, empowering authorities to automatically block migrants from presenting their asylum cases. The policy, which would significantly erode the rights of asylum seekers, appears to be one of the harshest immigration crackdowns pushed by any modern Democrat and mirrors the Trump administration's efforts to broadly limit entries en masse.