What does Biden's new asylum ban at the US-Mexico border do?

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration will block migrants from claiming asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border until attempted crossings fall under new actions rolled out on Tuesday.

The asylum ban goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. ET (0401 GMT) on Wednesday, barring any legal challenges that might block it.

WHAT DOES THE BIDEN ASYLUM BAN DO?

The new asylum ban allows authorities to quickly deport or send back to Mexico migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally without the chance to claim asylum, but they only take effect when migrant arrests surpass 2,500 per day for a week.

Border arrests averaged 4,300 per day in April, the most recent statistics publicly available. U.S. officials said on Tuesday that arrests remained high enough for restrictions to go into effect immediately.

The restrictions will stay in place until arrests drop below an average of 1,500 per day for three weeks. The last time crossings fell to that level was in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in July 2020 when global travel was at historic lows.