At least six changes are proposed by the new rules, several of which seek to return to pre-2018 requirements; meaning overturning Trump-initiated immigration policies:

On Friday, August 20, 2021, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), Department of Justice and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Department of Homeland Security will propose new rules for immigration claims for asylum.  The purported purpose of  these new rules is to –

“…simultaneously increase both the efficiency and the procedural fairness of the expedited removal process for individuals who have been found to have a credible fear of persecution or torture….”

At least six changes are proposed by the new rules, several of which seek to return to pre-2018 requirements; meaning overturning Trump-initiated immigration policies:

1. First, asylum officers in DHS’s USCIS would replace immigration judges in DOJ’s EOIR in initially adjudicating asylum and other related protection claims.
2. Second, DHS would expand its authority to “parole” asylum seekers because detention is “unavailable or impracticable.”  This new option would be in addition to a parole based on “a medical emergency” or is considered “necessary for a legitimate law enforcement objective.”
3. Third, all references to a “credible fear of persecution, reasonable possibility of persecution, or a reasonable possibility of torture” would be replaced with “credible fear,” a lower standard of proof, acknowledging that the pre-2018 statutory “significant possibility” standard, would be applied in considering all three types of protection claims—asylum, statutory withholding, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT).
4. Fourth, an individual who passes the initial “credible fear” screening would have his/her asylum claim reviewed by an asylum officer in USCIS in the first instance, rather than by an immigration judge in a removal hearing at a later date.
5. Fifth, USCIS asylum officers will make asylum, statutory withholding of removal, and withholding or deferral of removal decisions in cases where a credible fear of persecution determination has been positively made.  Moreover, USCIS asylum officers would be authorized to order the removal of the noncitizen(s) who fails to appear for the scheduled hearing with the asylum officer.
6. Sixth, DOJ and DHS propose to amend existing regulations to establish new immigration judge review proceedings for those noncitizens who establish a credible fear of persecution or torture but were found by USCIS asylum officers not to merit asylum, statutory withholding of removal, or protection under the CAT.  Essentially, immigration judges would rely on the record created at the asylum officer non-adversarial hearing but could allow additional testimony and evidence, if a party establishes that doing so is necessary.  This purportedly balances efficiency and fairness considerations appropriately.

The new rules, policies, rationale, and implementation requirements are published online through the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.  Refer to: DHS Docket No. USCIS-2021-0012.  The proposed rules will remain available for comment for at least sixty (60) days after publication.

1. If you cannot submit your comment(s) by using https://www.regulations.gov, please contact Samantha Deshommes, Chief, Regulatory Coordination Division, Office of Policy and Strategy, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security, by telephone at (240) 721-3000, for alternate instructions.
2. You can also contact the following for additional information (but not to submit comments) on the proposed rules:

1. For USCIS: Andria Strano, Acting Chief, Division of Humanitarian Affairs, Office of Policy and Strategy, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security, 5900 Capital Gateway Drive, Camp Springs, MD 20588-0009; telephone (240) 721-3000 (not a toll-free call).
2. For EOIR: Lauren Alder Reid, Assistant Director, Office of Policy, Executive Office for Immigration Review, 5107 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041; telephone (703) 305-0289 (not a toll-free call).

We all know that these new rules set up a new bureaucracy under DHS that will ensure more and more illegal aliens gain entry into the United States because of the inability of these asylum officers to hold to any standard for admittance. As the years pass, and asylum officers become “overwhelmed” by the sheer number of asylum seekers, the “Remain in Mexico” policy established under the Trump Administration will begin to look mighty good!

Resistance is never futile!  We must never give up!

I hope this is of value!

Demetria Carter