SAN DIEGO (AP) — President Joe Biden scrapped expedited asylum screenings during his first month in office as part of a gutting of Trump administration border polices that included building a wall with Mexico. Now he’s preparing his own version.

Donald Trump’s fast-track reviews drew sharp criticism from internal government watchdog agencies as the percentage of people who passed those “credible fear interviews” plummeted. But the Biden administration has insisted its speedy screening for asylum-seekers is different: Interviews will be done exclusively by US Citizenship and Immigration Services, not by Border Patrol agents, and everyone will have access to legal counsel.

The decision to use fast-track screenings comes as COVID-19 asylum restrictions are set to expire on May 11 and the US government prepares for an expected increase in immigrants trying to cross the border with Mexico.

Normally, about three in four migrants pass credible fear interviews, though far fewer eventually win asylum. But during the five months of the Trump-era program, only 23 per cent passed the initial screening, while 69 per cent failed and 9 per cent withdrew, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Those who get past initial screenings are generally freed in the United States to pursue their cases in immigration court, which typically takes four years. Critics say the court backlog encourages more people to seek asylum.

To pass screenings, migrants must convince an asylum officer they have a “significant possibility” of prevailing before a judge on arguments that they face persecution in their home countries on grounds of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a social group.

Under the Biden administration’s fast-track programme, those who don’t qualify will be deported “in a matter of days or just a few weeks,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Thursday.

The expedited screenings will be applied only to single adults, Mayorkas said.

Despite the administration’s assurances that people will have access to legal services, some immigrant advocates who were briefed by the administration are doubtful. Katherine Hawkins, senior legal analyst at the Project on Government Oversight, noted that advocates were told attorneys would not be allowed inside holding facilities.

The Trump administration used fast-track reviews from October 2019 until March 2020, when it began using a 1944 public health law known as Title 42 to expel immigrants on the grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. The speedy screenings were among Trump-era immigration policies that Biden rolled back in a February 2021 executive order.

Unlike the Trump administration, the Biden administration won’t limit migrants to just one phone call. But it’s unclear how many calls US authorities can facilitate, especially if there is no answer and attorneys call back, Hawkins said.

Screenings initially will be limited to Spanish-speaking countries to which the US has regular deportation flights, according to Hawkins and others briefed. The administration began limited screening this month in Donna, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley, and later expanded to large tents in other border cities, including San Diego; Yuma, Arizona; and El Paso, Texas.