Biden Administration Mulls Return to Detention of Asylum-Seeking Families

The Biden administration is considering a plan to start detaining asylum-seeking families who are apprehended in the U.S.-Mexico border after U.S. officials had largely ended the practice over the past two years. The move comes as the U.S. continues to intensify its crackdown on asylum seekers as it prepares to phase out the contested Trump-era Title 42 pandemic policy in May. The rule has been used to expel over 2 million migrants without due process at the southern border. Silky Shah of the Detention Watch Network said on Twitter, “Biden confirming his Obama 2.0 status with this news. … I really hope it’s a trial balloon that doesn’t go anywhere, but if not they are definitely going to get a fight.”