One of the keys to stemming the flow of new immigrants across the border is a Biden administration rule that requires asylum seekers to have first applied for asylum in one of the countries they passed through to reach the U.S. border. It will allow for quick expulsion of economic migrants who have no legitimate claim to asylum because of persecution in their home countries. The rule might sound harsh to immigration advocates, but it is one of the few necessary, legal ways this — or any — administration has to address the migratory flood now looms at the southern U.S. border.

President Joe Biden will face relentless criticism from Republicans now that Title 42 pandemic restrictions have been lifted and tens of thousands of migrants are swarming the border under the mistaken impression that they can enter freely. Immigrant smugglers are doing their best to feed the rumor mill that Biden is lifting restrictions and opening the floodgates. He now faces one of the biggest tests of his administration: turning back that flood and sending the loudest, most forceful message possible that American law will be rigorously enforced.

Nevertheless, the TV cameras will undoubtedly focus on the thousands crossing over and being detained by U.S. border enforcers, while Republicans exploit these images as proof of Biden's incompetence. That's politics.

The reality is likely to be something far different. Those thousands will not be able to abuse the immigration system by claiming asylum because of a new rule that requires them to prove they first requested asylum from at least one of the countries they passed through. If, for example, the migrant is Venezuelan, that person would have to prove having requested asylum in neighboring Colombia or one of the other countries on the arduous northward land route — Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala or Mexico.

There must be paperwork proving that the asylum request was rejected. Only then would the asylum-seeker qualify for temporary entry to the United States to await an immigration-court hearing on the asylum application. All the rest would, in theory at least, face immediate expulsion — with a possible five-year ban on eligibility for legal reentry.

"The rule presumes that those who do not use lawful pathways to enter the United States are ineligible for asylum," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters Wednesday.

None of these rules will matter one whit to Republicans on Capitol Hill, who already are declaring the administration's response a disaster. Even ex-President Donald Trump joined the chorus during a CNN interview Wednesday, claiming that now, "we have open borders" because of Biden's policies. U.S border enforcers cannot stop anyone from crossing the border illegally. The only thing they can do is arrest them after they have crossed, which is happening by the thousands, exactly as it happened under Trump's presidency.

REPRINTED FROM THE ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Photo credit: WikiImages at Pixabay