WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s government promoted a new rule that accelerates the denial of asylum to migrants who represent a danger to “national or public security,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported this Thursday.
The change comes as the federal government has tried to show voters that it is in control at the southern border in an election year in which immigration is a key issue. Republicans have constantly criticized the Biden government for its unsuccessful immigration policies.
The new regulations also come amid pressure from other Democrats and pro-immigrant activists to support immigrants already in the United States.
Migration greatly worries voters, according to polls.
In a statement issued to announce the changes, the Department of Security National Health Service (DHS) said that migrants considered a public threat are detained, but their eligibility for asylum is determined later in the process.
Until now, migrants who present a risk to national security or public safety remain in DHS custody while their cases are referred to immigration judges, a process that can take years and is costly.
The new rule allows applications to be denied within days if there is evidence that they could be rejected for “terrorism, national security or criminal reasons,” the statement explains.
Asylum officials will be able to decide
It would be determined during so-called credible fear interviews, in which officials assess whether there is a possibility that the person will be persecuted or tortured if they return to their country.
It is about identifying and expelling “more quickly those people who present a security risk and have no legal basis to remain here,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, quoted in the statement.
The new rule, which will go through a public comment process during which it could undergo changes before taking effect, was announced with less than six months until the November presidential elections.
Under the proposed rule, asylum officials who hear cases at an early review stage—which occurs days after a person arrives in the country— They will now be able to take criminal records or terrorist links into account when deciding whether someone should be deported from the country.
The statement notes that “although the number of migrants who are subject to these bans is small,” the regulation would allow DHS to expel them quickly.
“Expedited” expulsions
“This will allow DHS to expeditiously remove individuals who pose a threat to the United States much sooner than is currently possible, better protecting the security of our border and our country,” the department notes in the statement, despite the fact that Since coming to the White House, the Democratic administration has allowed millions of immigrants to enter without being investigated.
Under current law, there are certain mandatory barriers that make people ineligible for asylum, for example if they have been convicted of a particularly serious crime. But they typically come into play when an immigration judge makes a final decision on whether someone receives asylum, and that process can take years. Migrants are typically detained during this time, the department said.
“The proposed rule will allow asylum officials to deny applications within days of a person being found when there is evidence that the person is excluded from asylum due to a terrorism, national security or criminal ban, significantly reducing the time total between encounter and deportation from the United States,” the department said.
The agency did not provide figures on how many people would be affected by the determination, but said in the statement that it was a small number.
Millions continue to enter the US
More than 1.7 million migrant encounters are reported by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) during the first half of the current fiscal period (October to March), a trend that if continued would exceed 3.2 million migrants of the last fiscal year.
The figures are alarming. A total of 9,657,741 migrant encounters have been recorded by CBP since 2021 when President Joe Biden arrived at the White House. The border crisis has become a key issue for the November presidential elections in which everything indicates that Biden and Trump will face each other again in the presidential race.
The crisis hits large cities like New York, which have declared themselves unable to receive more migrants. The high costs of care fall on American taxpayers who will see services diminished because resources have been allocated to care for undocumented immigrants.
At least 10 states in the nation promote laws against undocumented immigration, with Texas and Florida leading the way.
Source: With information from AFP, AP and EDITORIAL
