Some nationalities escape Biden’s sweeping asylum ban because deportation flights are scarce

By ELLIOT SPAGAT
Associated Press

SAN DIEGO (AP) — President Joe Biden has suspended asylum processing at the U.S. border. But the proclamation for the new policy unveiled this week has an exception for “operational considerations.” That official language acknowledges the government lacks the money and authority to deport everyone subject to the measure, especially people from countries in South America, Asia, Africa and Europe who didn’t start showing up at the border until recently. The Homeland Security Department says in a detailed document outlining the ban that “demographics and nationalities encountered at the border significantly impact” its ability to deport people.