AG Sessions Builds Legal Wall Against Caravan’s Economic Migrants

by JOHN BINDER
23 Apr 2018
Washington, D.C.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is quickly building a legal wall to block asylum claims by economic migrants in the so-called “caravan” which has traveled from Honduras to Texas.

“These individuals—and their smugglers—ignored the willingness of the Mexican government to allow them to stay in Mexico,” Sessions said in a Monday statement, adding:

This is a deliberate attempt to undermine our laws and overwhelm our system. There is no right to demand entry without justification …

Accordingly, I have directed our U.S. Attorneys at the border to take whatever immediate action to ensure that we have sufficient prosecutors available. I have also directed that we commit any additional necessary immigration judges to adjudicate any [asylum] cases that may arise from this ‘caravan.’”

Sessions’ legal barrier against asylum claims by economic migrants is backed up by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who issued a statement saying “if members of the ‘caravan’ enter the country illegally, they will be referred for prosecution for illegal entry in accordance with existing law.”

Because of several loopholes in border laws, migrants can walk through Nielsen’s border guards to ask Sessions’ immigration judges for permission to file asylum claims in federal courts. That process is tightly governed by existing laws and court precedents, ensuring that border officers and immigration judges can only decline those migrant requests if the asylum claims are very weak.

After filing an asylum claim, migrants are given court dates, often two or even three years after they cross the border. Then they are released and also given a work permit. This “catch and release” process means migrants can easily use the loopholes to work legally in the United States for a few years, and can later walk away from their asylum claims to work as illegal immigrants in the United States.

Since 2011, when President Barack Obama loosened border procedures, these loopholes have allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants to collectively overwhelm the asylum process, so creating a backlog of almost 700,000 cases and an average wait of two years.

Sessions’ statement shows he is taking deliberate actions to block economic migrants from filing weak asylum claims.

First, his statement highlights that fact that the migrants have already refused to file for asylum in Mexico. That statement is a reminder to immigration judges on the border that the migrants’ refusal to apply for asylum in Mexico suggests that they are economic migrants and so cannot apply for asylum in the United States. According to the federal regulation, “an alien is considered to be firmly resettled if, prior to arrival in the United States, he entered into another nation with, or while in that nation received, an offer of permanent resident status, citizenship, or some other type of permanent resettlement.”

Second, Sessions is sending extra prosecutors and judges to the border so they can quickly process migrants’ asylum claims prior to the deadline for releasing them into the United States. If Sessions’ border judges can follow the set process by the legal deadlines, the migrants can be flown home instead of being released.

Third, Sessions is threatening jail terms to migrants and smugglers who lie to Nielsen’s border officers or to his judges. “Smugglers and traffickers and those who lie or commit fraud will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Sessions said. For example, some migrants claim to be the parents of other people’s children to help get through the asylum process.

Fourth, Sessions also reminded voters — and the media — that Congress created the loopholes and can fix them, saying:

Promoting and enforcing the rule of law is essential to protecting a nation, its borders, and its citizens. But, as President Trump has warned, the need to fix these loopholes and weaknesses in our immigration system is critical and overdue.

The caravan, as Breitbart Texas reports, has been traveling through Mexico with little pushback from the Mexican government with a goal of making it to the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump on Monday said he was instructing DHS to do everything in the agency’s power to block the caravan of Central Americans from crossing into the U.S.


Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Despite the Democrat inspired laws on Sanctuary Cities and the Border being so bad and one sided, I have instructed the Secretary of Homeland Security not to let these large Caravans of people into our Country. It is a disgrace. We are the only Country in the World so naive! WALL
6:44 AM - Apr 23, 2018


Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Mexico, whose laws on immigration are very tough, must stop people from going through Mexico and into the U.S. We may make this a condition of the new NAFTA Agreement. Our Country cannot accept what is happening! Also, we must get Wall funding fast.
6:51 AM - Apr 23, 2018

Earlier in April, Trump directed Sessions, Nielsen, and other others to explore their existing authority to exclude migrants without any new legislation from Congress.

Nielsen said in a statement that DHS is looking to take tough action against the foreign nationals if they illegally cross into the United States:

DHS continues to monitor the remnants of the ‘caravan’ of individuals headed to our Southern border with the apparent intention of entering the United States illegally. A sovereign nation that cannot – or worse, chooses not – to defend its borders will soon cease to be a sovereign nation. The Trump Administration is committed to enforcing our immigration laws – whether persons are part of this ‘caravan’ or not.

If members of the ‘caravan’ enter the country illegally, they will be referred for prosecution for illegal entry in accordance with existing law.

For those seeking asylum, all individuals may be detained while their claims are adjudicated efficiently and expeditiously, and those found not to have a claim will be promptly removed from the United States.

However, should the Central Americans seek asylum in the U.S. at a port of entry, there is no guarantee that DHS can prevent the foreign nationals from being released into the interior of the country while they await their court proceedings.

A DHS official told Breitbart News that some of the foreign nationals with the caravan could be released because of current immigration policy that allows for the program known as “Catch and Release” that has been exacerbated due to an under-funding of detention space for DHS.


John Binder 👽
@JxhnBinder
With signature, Trump authorizes to increase the number of illegal aliens who will be released into the interior of the U.S. through Catch-and-Release. http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...h-and-release/ …
12:12 PM - Mar 23, 2018

Omnibus Spending Bill Allows More Illegal Aliens to Be Released into U.S. Through 'Catch and...
The omnibus spending bill, passed by the Republican-controlled House and Senate, will allow more illegal aliens to be released into the United States.
breitbart.com

Experts who spoke to Breitbart News have explained how the Trump administration could unilaterally end Catch and Release. For example, the president can use National Guard troops to build tent cities along the U.S.-Mexico border to detain ore migrants instead of releasing them before their asylum claims are heard by judges.

As Breitbart Texas reported last year, a rush of new migrants in early 2018 has forced border officers to restart “Catch and Release” policies, which incentivizes an increasing number of border-crossings.

In November 2017, Border Patrol warned that they did not have the detention facility space to hold border-crossers until their immigration hearings, Breitbart Texas reported.


Neil Munro
✔
@NeilMunroDC
Trump wants new agency options to block economic migrants b/c Congress/estb. won't stop the cross-border inflow of cheap labor. Turns out, he's got many tools to adjust migrants' cost/benefit calculations: http://bit.ly/2GUsC84
10:12 AM - Apr 12, 2018

Trump To Get Menu of 'Catch and Release' Fixes | Breitbart
President Donald Trump will have plenty of options when agency officials present him with plans to block the growing number of economic migrants at the Texas border in June. - Trump |
breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...omic-migrants/

Sessions! Yes!

https://m.popkey.co/7e8e08/rbdWv.gif

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Then they are released and also given a work permit.

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When did this work permit start? Ive never seen it mentioned before recent articles this year.

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Originally Posted by ALIPAC

When did this work permit start? Ive never seen it mentioned before recent articles this year.

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Unfortunately, I think that has always been the case for those claiming asylum because the government want them to be able to support themselves.

When Can Asylum Applicants Get a Work Permit (EAD Card)?

Asylum applicants don't qualify for a work permit until their case is won or 180 days have passed with no decision.

By Ilona Bray, J.D.

Under U.S. immigration laws, only certain immigrants are allowed to work, usually after they apply for a work permit called an Employment Authorization Document (or EAD).

Some years ago, asylum applicants were allowed to get an EAD as soon as they'd submitted their application for asylum and work while their case was being considered, but no longer.

Now, in order to be granted a work permit, you have to either

• win your asylum case (which may take several years), or
• be left waiting 180 days or more with no initial decision on your application from the asylum office or from the immigration court. After 150 days, you can apply for a work permit and you are eligible to receive it after you have been waiting 180 days.

If you win your asylum case, you not only gain the right to work in the U.S., but don't need to apply for an EAD with which to do so. Your asylum grant allows you to obtain an unrestricted Social Security card, which is all you need to present to an employer.

Now let's look at some unique issues raised by the second option, of applying for a work permit if there's been no decision on your case within 150 days of your application.

Given that long waits are a common part of every type of immigration application, especially asylum applications in recent years, it got so people could count on 150 days passing without any decision on their asylum application if you filed it with an asylum office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Likewise, if you are in removal (deportation) proceedings in immigration court and want to apply for asylum, you could easily be waiting more than 150 days for a court date to see an immigration judge.

But USCIS has been taking steps to combat what it sees as a problem of people applying for asylum mainly to get a work permit. In 2018, it therefore began scheduling recent asylum applicants BEFORE those who'd applied earlier, just to make sure they had less of a chance of receiving a work permit.

In any case, you will want to start the asylum application process as soon as possible, so the clock can start running. If you're applying with USCIS, you'll get a receipt notice telling you when it received your application, which will be the date the clock starts.

If you're in removal proceedings, fortunately you don't have to be in front of an immigration judge to get the process started. You can just go to the court and "lodge" (give to the court) your asylum application. The court will stamp your copy of the application with a notation that it has been lodged, so that when you apply for your EAD you can prove to USCIS that the clock started that day. (You still have to officially "file" your asylum application with the court when the judge tells you to.)

Your wait to apply could be even longer than 150 days. Various things can occur to "stop the clock" (stop the counting up of the 150 days).

For example, if you request more time or fail to show up for a fingerprinting appointment, the government will stop the clock during this time. If USCIS requests more evidence from you in order to be able to make its decision, the clock will stop until it receives your response. If you're in removal proceedings, the clock will stop if you ask for your case to be postponed so you can get an attorney; if you ask for more time to prepare your case; if you say no when the judge asks you if you want your asylum claim to be heard sooner than normal; or if you file a motion that delays your case. Applicants in removal proceedings can track the progress of their "asylum clock" by calling the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR)'s immigration case status information number, 800-898-7180.

Various problems with the 150-day clock process have been observed, too. In many cases, the clock got stopped without the applicant even knowing or hearing about it, perhaps based on a government mistake. Applicants then found it very hard to get the clock started up again. This led to a court settlement, which enabled a more open asylum-clock process.

Once 150 days have passed and you have applied, the government has 30 days to give you (or deny) your EAD.

If You're Allowed to Apply for a Work Permit

If 150 days pass with no initial decision on your asylum application, you'll need to take steps to apply for a work permit.

The application process involves filling out USCIS Form I-765. For more detailed instructions on how to complete this form as an asylum applicant, see How to Apply for a Work Permit as an Asylum Applicant.

For in-depth information on asylum and refugee protections and all key immigration law issues, see U.S. Immigration Made Easy by Ilona Bray (Nolo).

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclope...ing-32297.html

The Denial of Work Authorization and Assistance for Asylum Seekers ...
https://www.hrw.org/...work/denial-work-authorization-and-assistance-asylum-seekers...
Nov 12, 2013 - However, asylum seekers in the United States are prohibited from working until at least 180 days have passed since they ..... The result is that many asylum seekers go without any public assistance or recourse to work while waiting for a determination on their asylum applications...