WESLACO – The federal government is preparing to change the process for those seeking asylum.

The Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security announced a new rule Thursday.

It changes who can seek asylum along the southern border.

It's not known yet when or where the caravan will arrive.

When it does, they could see changes as to how they request asylum.

This 78-page rule reads in part:

"The interim rule, if applied to a proclamation suspending  the entry  of  aliens  who  cross the  southern border unlawfully,  would  bar such  aliens  from  eligibility for asylum  and thereby  channel inadmissible  aliens  to ports of entry,  where  they  would  be processed in  a controlled, orderly, and lawful  manner."

In other words, if immigrants want to request asylum they would have to enter through a port of entry.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS spoke with immigration attorney Jodi Goodwin over the phone. 

She explained that as it stands, the Immigration and Nationality Act allows for anyone in the U.S., regardless of how they entered, to request asylum. 

Goodwin explained that process can change only through an act of Congress.

This rule has not gone into effect, yet. 

It will once the president issues a proclamation; that could be any day now.

The ruling is underpinned by the same portion of the law used to enact the controversial travel ban – section 212 (f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Like the travel ban, this new rule is expected to be challenged in the courts.