Washington has unveiled a new rule that will send some asylum seekers directly to court without having to meet with immigration officials.
The new rule, which takes effect immediately on Tuesday, is intended to reduce the time it takes U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to process a backlog of 1.4 million asylum applications.
“The United States’ asylum system exists to protect individuals who have a genuine fear of persecution, and this rule will help ensure that resources are used to promptly adjudicate these claims, rather than those seeking to exploit the system as a loophole,” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said in a statement Monday.
The USCIS statement said: “Currently, USCIS and DOJ immigration judges rule on asylum claims: USCIS rules on “affirmative” asylum claims for aliens who are not in removal proceedings, while immigration judges make “defensive” asylum claims on aliens who are in removal proceedings.”
The change applies to active asylum claims filed by immigrants who are not in deportation proceedings. In contrast, defensive asylum applications are made before an immigration judge after the government has initiated deportation proceedings.
“Depending on the alien’s immigration status, USCIS will typically adjudicate the petition or refer it to an immigration judge, who will then conduct a new review of the petition. This essentially gives the alien a second chance at asylum,” USCIS said.
“The interim final rule allows USCIS to refer asylum applications to an immigration judge without first interviewing the alien. This rule will reduce the overall time required for asylum officers and immigration judges to adjudicate asylum applications. Among other reasons, USCIS is making this change to reduce the asylum backlog,” USCIS said.
“For too long, the asylum system has been used to delay and work authorization rather than legitimate claims for protection,” Edlow said.
“One of the greatest obstacles to effective immigration enforcement is intentional delays by illegal aliens and the open-border attorneys who represent them,” said James Percival, general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security.
The Department of Homeland Security estimates that more than 1,32,000 cases per year may be transferred from USCIS to immigration court under this change.
Overall, 31% of USCIS’ backlog of cases could be affected, according to the Federal Register notice.
This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.
