On Monday, the DOJ unveiled a new change to existing immigration laws, specifically asylum laws governing those who have illegally entered the US to claim asylum.
“The rule’s bar on asylum eligibility for aliens who fail to apply for protection in at least one third country, through which they transit en route to the United States, also aims to further the humanitarian purposes of asylum,” explained US AG Bill Barr.
Barr explained that the new rules would help at-risk migrants by “deterring meritless asylum claims, and de-prioritizing the applications of individuals who could have obtained protection in another country.”
With the migration crisis at the US-Mexico border escalating each month, immigration officials and concerned citizens have repeatedly demanded an overhaul to existing asylum laws, which many have claimed to be badly abused.
From Sara Carter:
The Department of Justice announced a new immigration rule Monday that will restrict illegal immigrants from countries, other than those bordering the United States, for applying for asylum first in the U.S. if they have attempted “to enter the United States across the southern border after failing to apply for protection in a third country.” For example, the rule would not allegedly apply to Mexicans, whose first safe country is America.
Attorney General William Barr authorized the change in the rules under the Department of Homeland Security, as an effort to curtail the humanitarian crisis at the border and deter those abusing the current law from the dangerous trek to the United States.
The new rule has very limited exceptions and will go into effect 30 days from Monday. It will not apply to those potential immigrants who’ve already applied for asylum, the rule states.
“The rule’s bar on asylum eligibility for aliens who fail to apply for protection in at least one third country through which they transit en route to the United States also aims to further the humanitarian purposes of asylum,” Barr stated in Monday’s decision. “It prioritizes individuals who are unable to obtain protection from persecution elsewhere and individuals who are victims of a “severe form of trafficking in persons” as defined by 8 CFR 214.11, many of whom do not volitionally transit through a third country to reach the United States.”
“By deterring meritless asylum claims and de-prioritizing the applications of individuals who could have obtained protection in another country, the Departments seek to ensure that those refugees who have no alternative to U.S.-based asylum relief or have been subjected to an extreme form of human trafficking are able to obtain relief more quickly,” Barr added. Additionally, the rule seeks to curtail the humanitarian crisis created by human smugglers bringing men, women, and children across the southern border.”
The DHS rule, Barr states, reduces “the incentive for aliens without an urgent or genuine need for asylum to cross the border.”
Moreover, the rule also intends “to aid the United States in its negotiations with foreign nations on migration issues.” Barr said that by addressing the eligibility for asylum of aliens who fail to seek protection in the first safe country they primarily enter, while heading to the U.S. it “will better position the United States as it engages in ongoing diplomatic negotiations with Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries (Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras) regarding migration issues in general, related measures employed to control the flow of aliens into the United States.”
The rule, which is based on similar laws in effect in Europe and like the ‘Safe Third Agreement with Canada’ will require illegal migrants from other parts of the world utilizing routes through Central America or Mexico to enter the U.S. to apply for asylum in the first country they enter, according to the final outline of the order obtained by SaraACarter.com.
According to the new DHS rule “The Departments are amending their respective regulations to provide that, with limited exceptions, an alien who enters or attempts to enter the United States across the southern border after failing to apply for protection in a third country outside the alien’s country of citizenship, nationality, or last lawful habitual residence through which the alien transited en route to the United States is ineligible for asylum. This basis for asylum ineligibility applies only prospectively to aliens who enter or arrive in the United States on or after the effective date of this rule.”
The rule also requires asylum officers and immigration judges to apply this “new bar on asylum eligibility when administering the credible-fear screening process applicable to stowaways and aliens” in America’s already backlogged immigration courts.
Source: theconservativeopinion
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