Trump administration moves to restrict migrant asylum claims
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration said it would restrict people who illegally cross the US border with Mexico from claiming asylum, as the president seeks to choke off migration from Latin America.
The change to asylum procedures was published on Thursday by the Justice Department. President Donald Trump has blamed US asylum rules for luring thousands of migrants a year from Central American countries. The new rule is almost certain to be challenged in courts.
“Our asylum system is overwhelmed with too many meritless asylum claims from aliens who place a tremendous burden on our resources, preventing us from being able to expeditiously grant asylum to those who truly deserve it,” Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said in a joint statement.
The new restrictions on asylum claims won’t take effect until Mr Trump issues a proclamation limiting or suspending entry into the US from Mexico, according to the rule. Mr Trump planned to issue the proclamation yesterday, an administration official who asked not to be identified told reporters in a briefing.
Under the rule, migrants seeking asylum will have to make their claims at official ports of entry on the border. There, “they would be processed in a controlled, orderly, and lawful manner”, according to the rule.
Immigrant advocacy groups have complained that under Mr Trump, US border police have made it more difficult for people to cross into the country at ports of entry and have outright turned away some migrants.
“The administration’s asylum ban is unlawful and ignores our country’s basic values. There will be lawsuits,” said Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union who led the group’s challenge to the administration’s family separation policy.
According to US law, any migrant who enters the country “whether or not at a designated port of arrival” can apply for asylum. The administration believes it can modify that with its new rule. Many migrants who cross the border with Mexico illegally — especially children and families — present themselves to Customs and Border Patrol officers as soon as they can and claim asylum.
People who claim asylum are now interviewed by US officials to assess whether they have a “credible fear” of being returned to their home countries. If so, they are placed in immigration proceedings. Most are released with orders to appear in court later, a procedure Mr Trump has belittled as “catch and release”.
Under the new rule, the “credible fear” interviews would be preceded by determinations of whether Mr Trump’s proclamation applies to migrants caught crossing the border.
If so, they would have to meet a higher standard to apply for asylum, showing “a reasonable fear of persecution or torture” in order to avoid deportation. Mr Trump made immigration a key issue in Tuesday’s election, stoking fear among his supporters about a migrant “caravan” that’s still hundreds of miles away in Mexico.
Mr Trump said last week that he planned to modify the asylum process to make it more difficult for Central American migrants in the caravan to request protection.
Administration officials argue the asylum system is abused by people who are not seeking security in the US but are instead searching for economic opportunity or trying to reunite with family members.
The number of “credible fear” interviews conducted by US officials increased from about 5,000 a year in fiscal 2008 to 97,000 last year, according to Department of Justice data cited in a Federal Register notice of the rule. About 89% of applicants were determined to have credible fear last year, up from 77% in 2008. But only about 6,000 immigrants succeeded in completing the entire process to be granted asylum, according to the notice.