WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced Thursday that it is proposing changes to the asylum system that would allow immigration officials to reject asylum seekers whose criminal records pose a threat to national or public security and quickly deport them.
These changes will occur during the initial review phase, a senior U.S. Department of Homeland Security official said while speaking to reporters on background.
The proposed rule would allow asylum officials to issue a denial within days if there is evidence that a migrant is ineligible for asylum due to ties to terrorism, a threat to national security or a criminal background.
“This actually only applies to people who have a serious criminal history or are associated with terrorist activity, and that is, by nature, only a small portion of the people we encounter or interview on any given day,” said the senior DHS official. Officer. “We don’t think the rule will apply to a large number of people, but it will apply to the people we care about most.”
Currently, when a migrant applies for asylum, he or she must undergo an examination Screening for “credible fear.” Even if criminal charges are filed against them, they can still apply for asylum or be disqualified, depending on the severity of the charge.
“The proposed rule we released today is another step in our ongoing efforts to keep the American public protected by more quickly identifying and removing those individuals who pose a security risk and have no legal basis to remain “DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
DHS is also issuing revised guidance for asylum officials to consider whether an asylum seeker can be relocated to another part of their country where they fear persecution, known as internal relocation. This has been implemented under the Trump administration of Ken Cuccinelli and the Biden administration has rolled back that policy.
The recent guidelines “will ensure early identification and removal of individuals who are ultimately ineligible for protection because they can maintain their safety by relocating to another location in the country from which they fled,” it said DHS press release.
The Biden administration is currently dealing with the largest number of encounters with migrants the US-Mexico border in 20 yearsand continued to face intense criticism of his immigration policies from Republicans and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Republicans in Congress did it passed a law for reinstatement Hardliners on Trump-era immigration policy, decreased a bipartisan border security agreement and recently Mayorkas indicted.
The public comment period for the notice of the proposed rule runs from May 13 to June 12. The senior DHS official said the agency expects the proposed rule to be finalized this year and implemented expeditiously.
