Who Gets In? A Guide to America’s Chaotic Border Rules.
New restrictions on asylum will lead many migrants to be deported — but others will still get into the United States. Here’s what the process will look like.
![](https://static01.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2023-05-03-title42-flowchart/2d644d288e6c7ff1cecb43f990483b1d99119963/_assets/overview-335.png)
Migrants trying
to cross the border can…
Get appointment
at border checkpoint
Seek humanitarian parole
Cross
border
illegally
Few nationalities qualify.
A glitchy app has few slots.
Many turn themselves in to seek asylum.
Evade
detection
Temporary
release to U.S.
Detained and
deported
A small but rising number.
New rules restrict access to asylum.
Likely for single adults.
![](https://static01.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2023-05-03-title42-flowchart/2d644d288e6c7ff1cecb43f990483b1d99119963/_assets/overview-600.png)
Migrants trying
to cross the border can…
1
2
3
Seek humanitarian parole
Get an appointment
at a border checkpoint
Cross illegally
Few nationalities qualify.
A glitchy app has few slots available.
Many turn themselves in to seek asylum.
Evade
detection
Temporary
release to U.S.
Detained and
deported
A small but rising number.
New rules restrict access to asylum.
Likely for single adults.
On Thursday, the United States will lift a pandemic rule that had been used to immediately kick out hundreds of thousands of migrants who crossed the border illegally over the last three years.
Now, those migrants who enter the country illegally will have the opportunity to apply for asylum, which is a legal status people can get if they prove that they would face persecution or other risks at home.
That doesn’t mean it will be easy to actually qualify. The Biden administration is set to impose new restrictions on eligibility, and if the process works as planned many migrants would still be deported relatively quickly. But if new arrivals overwhelm the system, it’s possible officials will let many people stay in the country to await asylum hearings.
So what determines whether you get in or not? Sometimes it’s about how good of a case you can make, or whether you’ve followed the rules of an often chaotic system. Much of the time, it’s just luck.
Here’s what the process of getting across the border will look like under the new rules, as best as we could determine with the help of Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, the policy director at the American Immigration Council, and one of the top experts in the country on this issue.
1 Seek humanitarian parole
Few nationalities qualify.
![](https://static01.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2023-05-03-title42-flowchart/2d644d288e6c7ff1cecb43f990483b1d99119963/_assets/1-sponsor-335.png)
Are you Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan or Venezuelan?
Others aren’t eligible, with exceptions for Ukrainians and Afghans.
Do you have an urgent humanitarian reason to leave?
Parole is limited to 30,000 people per month.
Will a sponsor in the U.S. financially support you?
Favors wealthier migrants with connections in the U.S.
Live and work in U.S. for 2 years
If application is approved.
![](https://static01.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2023-05-03-title42-flowchart/2d644d288e6c7ff1cecb43f990483b1d99119963/_assets/1-sponsor-600.png)
Are you Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan or Venezuelan?
Others aren’t eligible, with exceptions for Ukrainians and Afghans.
Do you have an urgent humanitarian reason to leave?
Parole is limited to 30,000 people per month.
Will a sponsor in the U.S. financially support you?
Favors wealthier migrants with connections in the U.S.
Live and work in U.S. for 2 years
If application is approved.
In the last several months, President Biden used his executive authority to open what essentially amounts to a back door for certain migrants to enter the country legally: apply for what’s called “humanitarian parole.”
It gives Haitians, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans and Cubans the chance to live for two years in the United States if a sponsor files an application for them online. Hundreds of thousands have taken advantage of the program. The catch is that the number of monthly slots is limited. You also have to get someone already in the United States to take financial responsibility for you, and you need to have a valid passport and the money to pay for a plane ticket.
2 Get an asylum appointment at a border checkpoint
Requires using a glitchy app with few slots.
![](https://static01.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2023-05-03-title42-flowchart/2d644d288e6c7ff1cecb43f990483b1d99119963/_assets/2-borderport-335.png)
Are you in Mexico City or closer to the border?
Otherwise the app system won’t work.
You can secure an asylum appointment
The app crashes, or all the slots are gone
About 1,000 are available per day.
Some fail to book an appointment despite trying for months.
Probably released
into U.S.
Turned away at
border checkpoint
Apply for asylum, wait months or years for court date.
![](https://static01.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2023-05-03-title42-flowchart/2d644d288e6c7ff1cecb43f990483b1d99119963/_assets/2-borderport-600.png)
Are you in Mexico City or closer to the border?
Otherwise the app system won’t work.
You can secure an asylum appointment
The app crashes, or all the slots are gone
About 1,000 are available per day.
Some fail to book an appointment despite trying for months.
Turned away at
border checkpoint
Probably released
into U.S.
Apply for asylum, wait months or years for court date.
In January, the administration opened yet another pathway to encourage people to migrate in an orderly way rather than take a dangerous route that creates a bottleneck at the border. This one involves a new app, called CBP One. Migrants can use the app to make an appointment with border officials at a port of entry, who then can decide whether to allow them into the United States with a notice to appear in immigration court down the line.
It sounds relatively easy, except that the app has been glitchy, and the likelihood of getting an appointment has been compared to winning a lottery ticket. There are few slots available each day relative to demand. Only migrants who are in northern Mexico, near the U.S. border, or in Mexico City are eligible to use it. And many people have spent months trying day after day to make this work for them, to no avail.
3 Cross illegally
Many people turn themselves in to seek asylum.
First of all, it’s worth getting a basic sense of what it actually means to cross the border illegally. Sometimes it means traversing a desert or forging across a large body of water — but it’s not always that hard. In some places, like parts of Ciudad Juárez, the Mexican city across from El Paso, Texas, you can get to American soil by walking across a relatively narrow and calm stretch of the Rio Grande.
If migrants did that when Title 42 was in place, U.S. officials could send them back to Mexico within minutes, which will no longer be an option. Now, people who enter the country without proper documentation will either be put into formal deportation proceedings, which is a years-long, drawn-out process, or an expedited removal process that is intended to process and deport people much faster.
Families and children will mostly be put on the first, slower track, which means they will be given a date to appear before an immigration judge, but will be allowed to wait inside the country, living and working legally until their case is decided.
![](https://static01.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2023-05-03-title42-flowchart/2d644d288e6c7ff1cecb43f990483b1d99119963/_assets/3-1-twopaths-335.png)
Apprehended and
sent to processing center
Single
adults
Children and
parents with children
All lone children and most families are released.
Many may get lucky, especially when detention space and staff run out.
Others don’t, especially Mexicans, Guatemalans and others who can easily be deported.
Released into U.S.
for court proceedings
Sent to expedited removal
Resolving court and asylum cases can take months or years.
![](https://static01.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2023-05-03-title42-flowchart/2d644d288e6c7ff1cecb43f990483b1d99119963/_assets/3-1-twopaths-600.png)
Apprehended and
sent to processing center
Children and parents with children
Single
adults
All lone children and most families are released.
Many may get lucky, especially when detention space and staff run out.
More likely for Mexicans, Guatemalans and others who can easily be deported.
Sent to expedited
removal
Released into U.S.
for court proceedings
Resolving court and asylum cases can take months or years.
Single adults, on the other hand, will probably go through the expedited lane. If the system works as intended, those migrants could be on their way to deportation with a felony charge in hand within days.
If you entered illegally and did not enter the United States because you were fleeing persecution or serious danger, you will probably be deported. If you are seeking safe haven, you must claim fear of returning to your home country to apply for asylum. But it will be much harder to qualify than it once was, thanks to new barriers President Biden is putting in place this week.
Migrants will now have to show that they applied for asylum and were rejected by Mexico or another country they passed through on their journey in order to be considered for protection in the United States. That requirement, which critics call a “transit ban,” will probably face legal challenges by human-rights groups who say it amounts to a near prohibition on asylum. It can take months, if not years, to apply for asylum in Mexico, where the government’s system is extremely backed up. Many migrants also say they do not feel safe in countries they travel through.
If you’re put on the fast track, this might be applied just days after you crossed.
![](https://static01.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2023-05-03-title42-flowchart/2d644d288e6c7ff1cecb43f990483b1d99119963/_assets/3-2-expedited-removal-335.png)
Expedited
removal
Do you express a fear
of going back to your
home country?
Otherwise you’re probably subject to deportation.
‘Transit ban’
Almost
everybody
Can you show you’ve been denied asylum in another country on your way to the U.S.?
With few exceptions, the vast majority will be ineligible for asylum.
Almost nobody will clear this bar.
Does an asylum officer believe you have a “credible fear” of persecution at home?
Most meet this standard.
Probably released
into U.S.
Can apply for asylum.
Can’t show
likelihood
of persecution
Show officer that persecution or torture is likely if you return home
Difficult standard to meet.
Detained for deportation
Considered for a lesser protection
May be released but can’t get asylum.
Appeals are usually denied.
![](https://static01.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2023-05-03-title42-flowchart/2d644d288e6c7ff1cecb43f990483b1d99119963/_assets/3-2-expedited-removal-600.png)
Expedited
removal
Do you express a fear
of going back to your
home country?
Otherwise you’re probably subject to deportation.
‘Transit ban’
Can you show you’ve already been denied asylum in another country on your way to the U.S.?
Almost
everybody
With few exceptions, the vast majority will be ineligible for asylum.
Almost nobody will clear this bar — a central restriction of Biden’s border approach.
Can’t show
likelihood
of persecution
Does an asylum officer believe you have a “credible fear” of persecution at home?
Show officer that persecution or torture is likely if you return home
Most meet this standard.
Difficult standard to meet.
Probably released
into U.S.
Considered for a
lesser protection
Detained
for deportation
Appeals are usually denied.
Can apply for asylum.
May be released but can’t get asylum.
Even if you’re released into the United States, whenever you finally go before a judge you will still have to show that you were rejected for asylum by one of the countries you passed through on your way to the United States — even if that journey happened months or years ago.
![](https://static01.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2023-05-03-title42-flowchart/2d644d288e6c7ff1cecb43f990483b1d99119963/_assets/3-3-proceedings-335.png)
Released into U.S.
for court proceedings
Apply for asylum
Wait months or years for your court date.
‘Transit ban’
Can you show you’ve been denied asylum in another country on your way to the U.S.?
Almost
everybody
With few exceptions, the vast majority will be ineligible for asylum.
Almost nobody will clear this bar.
Considered for asylum
Can apply for asylum.
Show judge you are likely to face persecution or torture at home
Can’t show
likelihood
of persecution
Subject to deportation
Considered for a lesser protection
No pathway to permanent status.
Appeal could delay, but usually denied.
![](https://static01.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2023-05-03-title42-flowchart/2d644d288e6c7ff1cecb43f990483b1d99119963/_assets/3-3-proceedings-600.png)
Released into U.S.
for court proceedings
Apply for asylum
Wait months or years for your court date.
‘Transit ban’
Can you show you’ve already been denied asylum in another country on your way to the U.S.?
Almost
everybody
With few exceptions, the vast majority will be ineligible for asylum.
Almost nobody will clear this bar — a central restriction of Biden’s border approach.
Show judge you are likely to face persecution or torture at home
Can’t show
likelihood
of persecution
Subject to deportation
Considered
for asylum
Considered for a lesser protection
Appeal could delay, but usually denied.
Most asylum requests are denied.
No pathway to
permanent status.
Asylum hearings can take years to complete, and most claims are denied, leaving migrants without the right to stay in the United States and eventually apply for permanent status.
A final option, which has always been available and probably always will be: You can make an often arduous, perilous, and uncertain trek through rough terrain and unforgiving elements, and then try to sneak into the United States without being caught. If you manage to make it, you live in the shadows, with the risk of the authorities finding and deporting you at any moment.