Asylum plan is insane: Rule will boost protections for illegal immigrants, remove safeguards for US

By Andrew R. Arthur on September 29, 2022

In March, the DHS and DOJ published new rules for asylum claims by illegal border entrants. Overturning decades of practice, those rules allow Citizenship and Immigration Services asylum officers — not immigration judges as in the past — to grant asylum to migrants apprehended at the border. The New York Times has offered its foolishly hopeful take on the new system, which will encourage more migrants to enter illegally and deprive the American people of important protections. . . .

My organization and others submitted lengthy comments explaining that this proposal violated the immigration laws and would also encourage more illegal immigration. Among our concerns was the proposal would allow asylum officers to grant asylum — placing the migrant on a path to citizenship — following a “nonadversarial hearing,” at which the asylum seeker could be represented by counsel, but the American people wouldn’t. That means no cross-examination, no impeachment evidence, and no appeal if the asylum officer got it wrong.

Simply put, the proposed system would offer more protections to illegal entrants, while removing safeguards protecting US interests. . . .

[Read the whole thing at the New York Post.]