Gage Skidmore/CC BY 2.0

U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Lesko speaking with attendees at an event in Peoria, Arizona, in March 2022.

There has been push back on the Biden administration’s plans to implement new restrictions on asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border. But an Arizona congresswoman wants to see even more restrictive changes to asylum policy.

The Biden administration’s proposed rule would bar asylum seekers from protection in the U.S. if they fail to ask for asylum in another country they pass through on their way to the border or if they cross the border outside of legal ports of entry.

Immigration advocates say the plan is essentially a ban on asylum — a right protected by U.S. and international law — and that they will challenge it in court.

Now Peoria Republican Congresswoman Debbie Lesko introduced a bill in the U.S. House last month that would restrict asylum further than the Biden proposal.

"When someone comes across the border and claims asylum, there’s a standard that has to be met for it to go further," said Lesko.

Lesko says she wants to harden those credible fear standards — among other changes to asylum and immigration policy.