Biggs Throws Support Behind Proposed Asylum Rule Change

GILBERT – On Monday, Congressman Andy Biggs came out in support of the Trump administration’s proposed a new rule to streamline consideration of asylum claims. The Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security proposed a new rule intended to combat fraudulent claims.

Currently there is a 1-million case backlog.

“I support the Trump administration’s efforts to restore order and credibility to our nation’s asylum system,” said Biggs. “Eligible individuals in need of relief from persecution in their home countries should have an avenue to seek that relief. But our system has become a tool that aliens unfairly use to gain illegal access to our nation and to slow down their deportation process.”

“Since President Trump took office in 2017, the backlog of asylum cases has nearly doubled,” continued Biggs. “Yet in 2019, nearly 70 percent of asylum claims were denied. I suspect the denial rate will continue to rise as immigration judges work through the drastic increase in applications from the 2019 migrant caravans. This new rule will allow immigration officials to more easily identify and adjudicate baseless asylum claims, protecting our asylum seekers and those truly in need of protection.”

According to the Center for Immigration Studies:

Pursuant to those proposed regulations, aliens who are found to have credible fear or reasonable fear will be placed into asylum- or withholding-only proceedings before an immigration judge, instead of removal proceedings. That change is consistent with the expedited removal provision, and will speed adjudication of those cases.
The proposed regulations would also direct IJs to consider applicable precedent when reviewing negative credible fear and reasonable fear determinations, codifying current practice.
The regulations would also raise the standard of proof for credible fear claims involving statutory withholding and CAT, consistent with the higher burden on applicants for those protections as compared to the burden on asylum applicants.
In addition, the regulations would require that aliens in expedited removal proceedings be screened through the credible fear process, instead of simply being released with an NTA to appear in removal proceedings. They would also require asylum officers to consider whether the alien could safely relocate within his or her country in assessing fear.
The proposed regulations would also amend the current standards for assessing whether an alien has filed a “frivolous” asylum application (a permanent statutory bar to all immigration benefits), which are limited to solely to the deliberate fabrication of material elements – that is, fraud. The proposed regulation would include applications that are filed despite the fact that the alien knows the claim is not meritorious, weeding out applications brought for improper purposes such as remaining in the United States, obtaining work authorization, or to seek another immigration benefit.
Those regulations would also allow IJs to pretermit (dismiss) applications that are not legally viable, eliminating the need for a full evidentiary hearing in a case where an alien ultimately cannot be granted protection. This would preserve judicial resources, allowing the immigration courts to focus on applicants who could be eligible for protection.
The proposed regulations would also provide IJs and the BIA with bright-line rules to follow in assessing various issues that have complicated determinations in asylum, statutory withholding, and CAT cases.
Finally, the regulations would allow DHS and DOJ to disclose information in applications for asylum, statutory withholding, and CAT protection for a variety of reasons, including as part of a criminal investigation, in response to claims filed by aliens with federal judges seeking release from custody, and to prevent child abuse.
Such regulatory rulemaking is an alternative to the Attorney General making these changes through precedent on certification, or the BIA doing so through its decisions.