SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — The Biden administration this month announced plans to speed up asylum proceedings and quickly remove those who don’t qualify, something critics say is similar to the Trump-era Title 42, a public health order that allowed immigration officers to quickly expel migrants before they could ask for asylum.
Immigration attorney Maria Salguero believes the new rules and other proposals further limit an asylum process that, she says, currently has three “lawful pathways.”
“Someone who enters through regular channels with a tourist visa or with parole, which is a special permit to come into the United States; nationals from certain countries such as Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela; or they present themselves at the border with a CBP One appointment,” Salguero said.
But she and other immigration attorneys and migrant advocates are worried President Joe Biden wants to get around these pathways by issuing executive orders.
One would force migrants to seek asylum in the first country they cross on their way to the U.S.
This is expected to make most migrants ineligible for asylum.
Migrants with criminal records will also have little chance of getting asylum, according to the president’s plan.
Another idea is to have officers make the initial screenings and determine if a migrant has a legitimate claim for asylum. If not, asylum-seekers would be expelled to their country of origin almost immediately.
“I don’t know if the intention is to be more difficult, but I think the effect definitely is,” said Salguero, who works for the Immigrant Legal Defense Center in Santa Maria, California. “I see folks who are coming to this country with valid asylum claims that most of the time are not able to articulate their claims.”
In announcing the new expedited docket process, the Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department said the effort would grant immigration relief or protections to noncitizens with valid claims.
However, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said it is ultimately up to Congress to “fix our broken immigration system.”
“This administrative step is no substitute for the sweeping and much-needed changes that the bipartisan Senate bill would deliver, but in the absence of Congressional action we will do what we can to most effectively enforce the law and discourage irregular migration,” Mayorkas said.
Salguero believes screening asylum-seekers a lot faster will make it harder for migrants to get legal representation in a timely manner.
“There’s a reason why statistically it is eight times more likely for a person to win asylum in immigration court when they have representation from an attorney.”
One way or another, Salguero says it’s likely nothing will happen until the election cycle is over.
“A lot of immigration attorneys and advocates are nervous about the elections coming up this November, anything can happen.”
On Thursday, Senate Republicans again blocked the bi-partisan bill meant to lower the number of migrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.
It failed for the first time back in February.
Since then, the Biden administration has been considering executive orders to expedite the processing and potential removal of migrants.
The latest Senate rejection is seen as part of a lead-up to Biden issuing more border measures, potentially as early as next month.
Read: Read More