The agency cited “current public health conditions and an increased availability of tools to fight Covid-19” as grounds for returning in late May to prepandemic policies for admitting migrants.
The change is to take effect in late May, according to people familiar with the planning, and should restore the right of migrants to request asylum once they cross the border into the United States.
Officials are bracing for the number of interceptions at the border to rise much higher if a public health order that has limited immigration during the pandemic is lifted.
The administration plans to seek funding for 25,000 beds, down from the 34,000 beds that are currently funded. It also severed a contract with a detention facility in Alabama.