`Sweeping attack' on asylum rules
Gang threats, gender violence may not qualify
U. S. immigration lawyers have vowed to take Donald Trump's administration to court after it published a rule change that significantly raises the bar for asylum seekers to gain refuge in America, including over the threat of gangs or gender violence.
The Homeland Security Department and Justice Department released a 419-page document, which in dense legal language redefines the criteria asylum seekers must meet.
One aspect relates to people who claim to have a “credible fear of persecution or torture” should they return to their home country. The definition for what amounts to “persecution” has been changed. The new rule states that “every instance of harm that arises generally out of civil, criminal, or military strife in a country” does not necessarily count as persecution.
Nor does “intermittent harassment, including brief detentions,” “threats with no actions taken to carry out the threats” or “non-severe economic harm or property damage.”
The rule change also makes it harder for individuals seeking asylum over gender or gang violence to gain approval. Those are two common justifications people seeking refuge in America often cite. The new rule has triggered an immediate backlash from immigration lawyers who say it would drastically reduce the number of people who will gain asylum in the U.S.
Lee Gelernt, a prominent immigration lawyer who works with the American Civil Liberties Union, told The Daily Telegraph: “These regulations are yet another attempt by the Trump administration to destroy the U.S. asylum system, and will result in countless people being sent back to grave danger.
“They will be challenged in court and we hope as well that the Biden administration will reverse these new devastating rules.”
Aaron Reichlin-melnick, of the advocacy group American Immigration Council, told the Politico website: “This is the most sweeping attack on asylum that we have seen under the Trump administration. Under this rule, asylum would be taken out of reach for a large percentage of people who in the past would have been able to qualify.”
The rule change adds to the hard- line policies on immigration and asylum adopted by Trump, who has expanded fencing at the U.s.-mexico border and repeatedly pushed his Homeland Security team to drive down immigration figures.
It is also the latest example of the Trump administration pushing through policies in line with Trump's long-held ideological priorities in the final weeks of his presidency.