Federation for American Immigration Reform jumped at the opportunity to share its views after the Dept. of Homeland Security and the Dept. of Justice announced a plan to allow asylum officers the authority to grant full and immediate asylum to illegal aliens requesting it at the U.S.-Mexico border.
"This is one more example of this administration making it easier to get into the country illegally,” Ira Mehman, a spokesman for FAIR, says, “in this case the broad political asylum process.”
As part of the comment period, FAIR sent a well-researched letter, numbering 19 papers, to the Dept. of Homeland Security and Dept. of Justice. The letter is signed by Dan Stein, the president of FAIR.
Tens of thousands of foreigners apply for U.S. asylum annually but the standards for accepting an applicant are strict. Most applicants are moved from an initial interview with an U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officer to a court date with an immigration judge who reviews and rules on the case. But those cases are backlogged by years, which drags out a process in which a majority of asylum applications --- 80% on average --- will be denied anyway.
U.S. asylum figures compiled by Syracuse University show 76% of cases were denied by a judge in fiscal year 2020. Most applicants came from South America and Central America last year, surpassing applicants from China who had led all other nations and regions in past years.
Mehlman says the new asylum rule seemingly puts the power of asylum in the hands of “bureaucrats” but those federal employees, he says, know that Homeland Security boss Alejandro Mayorkas has made it clear nobody will be denied entry into the United States.
"We already have a system that is overwhelmed," Mehlman complains. "This is simply going to create more chaos which seems to be exactly what this administration wants."
