Despite promises, attorneys are scarce as the US resumes speedy asylum screenings at border

By ELLIOT SPAGAT
Associated Press

SAN DIEGO (AP) — As the Biden administration prepared to launch speedy asylum screenings at the border this spring, authorities pledged a key difference from a Trump-era version of the policy: Migrants would be guaranteed access to legal representation. Nearly three months and thousands of screenings later, the promise of attorney access appears largely unfulfilled. That’s based on interviews with several people involved in the process, some who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the effort publicly. A coterie of involved attorneys estimate that perhaps 100 migrants have secured formal representation, and only hundreds more have received informal advice through one-time phone calls.