Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced on Friday that the US will finalize a new regulation by May 11 that will deny asylum to many migrants caught crossing the

US-Mexico border illegally.

This comes as sweeping COVID-19 restrictions at the border are set to end on the same day. Under the new regulation, migrants will be presumed ineligible for asylum if they passed through another country en route to the US without seeking protection or if they failed to use other legal pathways to the United States.

The move is part of President Joe Biden's plan to address an expected rise in illegal immigration when COVID restrictions known as Title 42 end next week. The anticipated increase in border crossings will be "extremely challenging," Mayorkas said during a press conference in Brownsville, Texas. The Mexican government has agreed to step up border security in southern Mexico as part of an agreement reached this week. Photo by Amyyfory, Wikimedia commons.