Biden Administration Weighs Action: Harder to Get Asylum

More from the article...

... The Biden administration is considering taking unilateral action without Congress to make it harder for migrants to pass the initial screening for asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border and quickly deport recently arrived migrants who don't meet the criteria, say three U.S. officials with knowledge of the deliberations.

The actions, which are still weeks away from finalization, are an effort to lower the number of migrants crossing the southern border illegally as immigration remains a top issue for voters heading into the 2024 presidential election.

Under the new policies, asylum officers would be instructed to raise the standards they use in their "credible fear interviews," the first screening given to asylum-seekers who are trying to avoid deportation for crossing the border illegally. And Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be told to prioritize recently arrived migrants for deportation, in a "last in, first out" policy, the officials said. ...

@#2 ... Shame the GOP is so pro-open borders. ...

Ya know, it takes a lot to convince me to change an opinion that I hold.

But regrading an "open border," the GOP has convinced me that they are in favor of it.

Why do I think they hold that opinion?

Because it now seems to be a political point they can try to drive home.

So now, it appears that the GOP is the party in favor of the so-called "open borders."

The apparent change of mind by the GOP seems to want to put politics above the good of the Country.

Oh well, that seems to be the current GOP. ...

@#14 ... now it's Republicans fault. ...

Yup, now (not 4 to 5 months ago, but now) it is the Republicans fault.

Once the Democrats and Republicans in the Senate got together and passed a bi-partisan bill, one that gave the GOP pretty much all they wanted in an immigration bill, the House GOP wouldn't even allow the bill to be presented in the House.

So, yeah, it is the Republicans' fault now, more specifically, the House Republicans.

@#8 ... Many of their donors and key constituents profit from undocumented labor. ...

Agreed.

@#21 ... you lost your minds over. It was cruel, mean, racist, etc ...

The separation of children from their parents was cruel and mean. The detainment conditions were cruel and mean.

... Now, you're insisting the GOP was really for open borders all along?

Back in June 2018, Stephen Miller, a member of the Trump administration, worked with the Republican-held Congress to craft the Four Pillars bill, meeting the requirements that fmr Pres Trump wanted.

Yet fmr Pres Trump then signaled he would not sign the bill.

Apparently, even back then he did not want to solve the border problem, preferring to keep it active to be used for political points. Active for political points, which the Republicans are obviously using it for nowadays.

@#24 ... so all of that was a ruse? ...

Considering the actual actions of Republicans in Congress nowadays (specifically the House Republicans), I'd say, yes.

@#28 ... False because there were two bills being proposed. ...

But he did signal he would not sign the bill that had the chance of passing. So, not false.

So he chose to do nothing, and keep it as a political issue, instead of getting a bill to sign that would have reduced the problem.

Thanks for the follow-ups.

@#30

The article your current alias cites from The Hill is quite interesting.

More from that article...

... White House senior adviser Stephen Miller told House conservatives in the Republican Study Committee at a Wednesday meeting that the Trump White House expects to support both immigration bills coming to the House floor next week.

Miller, a hardliner on immigration, reiterated the administration's support for House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte's (R-Va.) bill backed by immigration hardliners but said the White House would likely also back a second bill being crafted by leadership, a source inside the room told The Hill.

That second bill will include all four of the pillars that President Trump has demanded be a part of any immigration bill.

Miller was attempting to sell conservatives on the immigration compromise currently being crafted by the caucus, and indicated the White House likes where the process is headed. ...

Another view...

Paul Ryan Says Trump Is All In on Next Week's Immigration Votes (June 2018)
www.wral.com

... Speaker Paul D. Ryan told a closed-door meeting of House Republicans on Wednesday that his plan to bring two immigration bills up for a vote next week had the approval of President Donald Trump, who is enthusiastic about the effort, according to a person who attended the meeting.

Whether either bill can pass is very much in doubt.

Wednesday's gathering came less than 12 hours after Ryan's office announced that the House would consider immigration next week -- but not bipartisan bills aimed primarily at protecting young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. Instead, lawmakers will consider a hard-line measure that emphasizes border security and a somewhat more moderate compromise measure, yet to be finalized, that still meets Trump's standards.

But the approval of an immigration hard-liner like Trump only underscored the growing sense that a rebellion by moderate Republicans seeking bipartisanship had utterly failed. It underscored the looming reality that the president has effectively acquired the last say over the actions of the Republican Congress.

Lawmakers attending the meeting said the compromise bill will be built around four principles -- Trump has called them the "four pillars" -- that the president has insisted any immigration bill contain: a path to citizenship for the young unauthorized children known as Dreamers; beefed-up border security, including $25 billion for the wall the president wants to build; an end to the current diversity visa lottery system, which is aimed at bringing in immigrants from underrepresented nations; and limits on family-based migration, known as chain migration.

Ryan told reporters that the "last thing I want to do is bring a bill out of here that I know the president won't support." ...

Democrats are furious that those measures will not come to a vote; the bipartisan bill was widely expected to pass the House with support from both parties. In a statement issued late Tuesday night, Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, the chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, lambasted the Republican leaders.

"Instead of standing courageously with a bipartisan group of 216 representatives, they cowered to the hyper-partisanship that has broken Congress and failed to deliver solutions to our nation's most pressing problems," she said. ...

[emphasis mine]

So, even back in 2018, the extremist Republicans blocked a supported bi-partisan attempt to solve the immigration problem.

@#34 ... Do tell, are you being intentionally obtuse... ...

About what?

You replied to my #3 comment where I spoke of the current GOP and its actions (as shown by my use of the words "now" and "current"), not the GOP of prior years.

@#35 ... Make it harder to get asylum?

How about just saying that not all illegal immigrants have a claim to asylum? ...

Well, making it harder to get asylum is effectively saying that not all immigrants have a right to asylum.

... Asylum is intended to protect people who are being persecuted. ...

That's one aspect.

The current problem with asylum process is that the immigrants seem to be coached on exactly what to say so that they get granted entrance.

Then, once granted entrance, the huge backlog in asylum courts puts their appearance before the court years out.

The latter part of that problem is easier to solve than the former. Put into place more courts.

But, how do we get around the coaching that is done so that those seeking asylum know what to say?

What is suitable proof pf persecution?

@#38 ... Why would all immigrants have a right to asylum? ....

That's not what I meant.

Lemme try again with more of an explanation...

Well, making it harder to get asylum is effectively saying that not all immigrants have a right to asylum. So, the "test" given to immigrants when they apply for asylum needs to assure that those applying for asylum truly meet the requirements set for asylum seekers, effectively weeding out those who apply but do not qualify.

Better? :)

But that also shows the other point I raised in my comment, those coming to our border are coached about what to say to get past that first asylum-request hurdle. How do we resolve that problem?

@#39 ... That would be my guess, but I have nothing to substantiate it. ...

I've seen more recent articles about the coaching being done in Mexico, but this one sums it up well...

Twenty-Six Individuals, Including Six Lawyers, Charged In Manhattan Federal Court With Participating In Immigration Fraud Schemes Involving Hundreds Of Fraudulent Asylum Applications (2012)
www.justice.gov

... Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated: "Our asylum laws exist to provide a safe haven in the United States to immigrants subject to persecution in their own countries for exercising freedoms fundamental to a democracy.

As alleged, these defendants, including six attorneys and a church employee, exploited those laws by weaving elaborate fictions on behalf of hundreds of would-be asylum seekers, coaching them on how to lie on their applications, stepping in when they went off script, and lying to immigration judges at court hearings. ...

@#39 ... Under current rules, they could stay until the court hearing. ...

Two aspects of that...

1) under current rules

and

2) stay until court hearing

I commented on both of those, and they both were addressed in the bi-partisan Senate bill that Spkr Johnson refuses to bring to the floor.

... Mom gets preggo and has another kid, who is automatically a US citizen as a function of jus soli. ...

Just like the Russian women who travel to Florida to have their babies so that the kids re US Citizens.

Mother Russia: South Florida sees a boom in birth tourism' (2019)
apnews.com

... Every year, hundreds of pregnant Russian women travel to the United States to give birth so that their child can acquire all the privileges of American citizenship.

They pay anywhere from $20,000 to sometimes more than $50,000 to brokers who arrange their travel documents, accommodations and hospital stays, often in Florida.

While the cost is high, their children will be rewarded with opportunities and travel advantages not available to their Russian countrymen. The parents themselves may benefit someday as well. ...

But I suspect that may be a different thread. :)

@#40 ... Bosnian refugees who wound up near where I grew up in Idaho likely didn't need any coaching. ...

Likely because they had good cause on why they were seeking asylum, and did not need coaching on what to make up.

Once again, I want only those who need asylum to get asylum. But the question I keep asking is, how do we determine those who need asylum so that the asylum system is not abused as it currently is?

Speaking of coaching...

When the questions are known, the coaching is easy. It is like the students in NYC whose parents have enough money to hire private "tutors" for their kids so that those kids can pass the exam for the NYC charter high schools, effectively locking out those kids who are smart enough but cannot compete with those who effectively know the answers ahead of time.