The Trump administration has sharply restricted access to the US asylum system, NPR reports, using executive action and tougher border enforcement to prevent many people from starting or pursuing claims. The changes matter because asylum is a legal protection for people fleeing persecution, and the measures have reduced a major route through which migrants could seek safety in the United States.

The article’s three charts show a steep fall in encounters and asylum-related processing at the southern border after the policy changes, alongside a broader decline in people being allowed to enter to make claims. It places the shift in the context of a long-standing asylum backlog and argues that the administration has moved the system away from processing claims towards deterring and rapidly removing migrants.