Circumvention of Lawful Pathways (Joint DHS/DOJ Final Rule)

Policy effect

DHS and DOJ promulgated a rule establishing a rebuttable presumption of asylum ineligibility for noncitizens who enter the United States at the southwest land border or adjacent coastal borders without authorization after transiting through a third country, unless they availed themselves of an existing lawful pathway, presented at a port of entry via a pre-scheduled appointment (such as the CBP One app), or were denied protection in a transit country.

Conditions and exceptions

Validated condition or limit: DHS and DOJ promulgated a rule establishing a rebuttable presumption of asylum ineligibility for noncitizens who enter the United States at the southwest land border or adjacent coastal borders without authorization after transiting through a third country, unless they availed themselves of an existing lawful pathway, presented at a port of entry via a pre-scheduled appointment (such as the CBP One app), or were denied protection in a transit country.

Official source excerpt

Quoted verbatim from the official source below. Ellipses indicate omitted text.

(“DHS”) and the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) are issuing a final rule in anticipation of a potential surge of migration at the southwest border (“SWB”) of the United States following the termination of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (“CDC”) public health Order. The rule encourages migrants to avail themselves of lawful, safe, and orderly pathways into the United States, or otherwise to seek asylum or other protection in another country through which they travel, thereby reducing reliance on human smuggling networks that exploit migrants for financial gain. The rule does so by introducing a rebuttable presumption of asylum ineligibility for certain noncitizens who neither avail themselves of a lawful, safe, and orderly pathway to the United States nor seek asylum or other protection in a country through which they travel. In the absence of such a measure, which would apply only to those who enter at the southwest land border or adjacent coastal borders during a limited, specified date range, the number of migrants expected to travel without authorization to the United States would be expected to increase significantly, to a level that risks undermining the Departments … citation-208.33) Lawful pathways condition on asylum eligibility. Notwithstanding any contrary section of this part, including §§ 208.2, 208.13, and 208.30— (a) *Condition on eligibility.* (1) *Applicability.* A rebuttable presumption of ineligibility for asylum applies to an alien who enters the United States from Mexico at the southwest land border or adjacent coastal borders without documents sufficient for lawful admission as described in section 212(a)(7) of the Act and whose entry was: (i) Between May 11, 2023, and May 11, 2025, (ii) Subsequent to the end of implementation of the Title 42 … Eligibility for Certain Aliens Who Entered Between May 11, 2023, and May 11, 2025 [§ 1208.33](#sectno-citation-1208.33) Lawful pathways condition on asylum eligibility. Notwithstanding any contrary section of this part, including §§ 1208.2, 1208.13, and 1208.30— (a) *Condition on eligibility.* (1) *Applicability.* A rebuttable presumption of ineligibility for asylum applies to an alien who enters the United States from Mexico at the southwest land border or adjacent coastal borders without documents sufficient for lawful admission as described in section 212(a)(7) of the Act and whose entry was: (i) Between …

Review method

Two separate automated exact-claim source reviews

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