Swordsmyth
03-12-2018, 07:38 PM
The Trump administration is taking steps to limit who gets asylum in the United States, and immigration lawyers are warning that thousands of people who fled violence and persecution in their home countries could be turned away.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is using his authority to reshape the law on who qualifies for asylum, and whether they get a hearing in court. Sessions has intervened in two cases that could have big implications for people who come to the U.S. and seek asylum.
This comes as the number of applications for asylum has risen sharply in recent years. Sessions has been trying to eliminate what he has called "rampant fraud and abuse" in those applications, and to cut into a massive backlog of immigration cases.
"The system is being gamed, there's no doubt about it," Sessions said in October of last year, in a speech to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (https://www.c-span.org/video/?435666-1/attorney-general-urges-congress-crack-broken-asylum-policies) in Virginia. Back then, he was asking Congress to tighten asylum rules. Last week, he acted on this own.
In one case, the attorney general vacated a precedent-setting ruling that said most asylum seekers have a right to a hearing in front of a judge before their claim could be rejected. In a second case, Sessions is reviewing whether victims of "private crime" should qualify for asylum.
These moves come as no surprise to anyone who has followed Sessions' positions on immigration and asylum.
"We can close loopholes and clarify our asylum laws to ensure that they help those they were intended to help," Sessions said in his October speech. "As this system becomes overloaded with fake claims, it cannot deal effectively with just claims."
Immigration courts do face a huge backlog — upwards of 600,000 cases, more than triple the number in 2009.
One factor driving that growing backlog is a constant stream of women and children from Central America. Many of these migrants claim asylum because, they say, they've been the victims of gangs, or domestic violence, in their home countries.
But some people, like former immigration judge Andrew Arthur, are skeptical about this kind of claim.
"It's actually become sort of a catchall for truly inventive lawyers," said Arthur, who is now a fellow at the Center for Immigration studies, which advocates for lower levels of immigration.
Immigration courts work differently than regular courts. They're part of the Justice Department, so the attorney general has the power to personally overturn decisions by immigration courts.
More at: https://www.npr.org/2018/03/12/592823598/attorney-general-jeff-sessions-reshapes-who-qualifies-for-asylum
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is using his authority to reshape the law on who qualifies for asylum, and whether they get a hearing in court. Sessions has intervened in two cases that could have big implications for people who come to the U.S. and seek asylum.
This comes as the number of applications for asylum has risen sharply in recent years. Sessions has been trying to eliminate what he has called "rampant fraud and abuse" in those applications, and to cut into a massive backlog of immigration cases.
"The system is being gamed, there's no doubt about it," Sessions said in October of last year, in a speech to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (https://www.c-span.org/video/?435666-1/attorney-general-urges-congress-crack-broken-asylum-policies) in Virginia. Back then, he was asking Congress to tighten asylum rules. Last week, he acted on this own.
In one case, the attorney general vacated a precedent-setting ruling that said most asylum seekers have a right to a hearing in front of a judge before their claim could be rejected. In a second case, Sessions is reviewing whether victims of "private crime" should qualify for asylum.
These moves come as no surprise to anyone who has followed Sessions' positions on immigration and asylum.
"We can close loopholes and clarify our asylum laws to ensure that they help those they were intended to help," Sessions said in his October speech. "As this system becomes overloaded with fake claims, it cannot deal effectively with just claims."
Immigration courts do face a huge backlog — upwards of 600,000 cases, more than triple the number in 2009.
One factor driving that growing backlog is a constant stream of women and children from Central America. Many of these migrants claim asylum because, they say, they've been the victims of gangs, or domestic violence, in their home countries.
But some people, like former immigration judge Andrew Arthur, are skeptical about this kind of claim.
"It's actually become sort of a catchall for truly inventive lawyers," said Arthur, who is now a fellow at the Center for Immigration studies, which advocates for lower levels of immigration.
Immigration courts work differently than regular courts. They're part of the Justice Department, so the attorney general has the power to personally overturn decisions by immigration courts.
More at: https://www.npr.org/2018/03/12/592823598/attorney-general-jeff-sessions-reshapes-who-qualifies-for-asylum