By Ted Hesson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration will toughen an asylum ban at the U.S.-Mexico border to keep it in place for longer, U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials said on Monday, signaling a desire to further curb illegal crossings.
The change, effective just after midnight, will leave asylum restrictions in place until arrests of migrants crossing illegally drop below a daily average of 1,500 over 28 days, lengthened from the current seven-day period, the official said.
U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, issued the asylum ban in June to drive down record numbers of migrants caught crossing illegally. Immigration is a top voter issue in the run-up to the Nov. 5 election, which will pit Vice President Kamala Harris against Republican Donald Trump, an immigration hardliner.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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