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  1. #1
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    Immigration officials raise the bar on asylum interview process

    By Kate Linthicum
    April 17, 2014, 4:40 p.m.
    Los Angeles Times


    A sign at the U.S. border with Mexico in Nogales, Ariz. (John Moore / Getty Images / April 1, 2014)

    With a growing number of immigrants asking for asylum at the border, Department of Homeland Security officials have set new guidelines that raise the bar on who can enter the United States and formally file for protection, according to documents released Thursday.

    The internal U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services documents, which were obtained by an advocacy group called the National Immigrant Youth Alliance, pertain to what are known as "credible fear" interviews.

    Asylum officers conduct the interviews when a person subjected to expedited removal, such as a someone apprehended at the border, expresses an intention to apply for asylum or expresses a fear of harm if they return home. The officer determines whether the person is eligible for a full asylum hearing -- or should be sent home.

    Under the new guidelines, spelled out in a Feb. 28 memo from John Lafferty, the chief of the Asylum Division at USCIS, officers are instructed to approve only those immigrants who demonstrate a "significant possibility" of winning asylum from a judge.

    Lafferty wrote that the changes were made in light of concerns that officers had been approving cases that had "only a minimal or mere possibility of success."

    The agency has been overwhelmed with a surge of new credible fear applications driven largely by an influx from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. Over the last five years, credible fear claims at the border have increased sevenfold, from just under 5,000 to more than 36,000.

    In his memo, Lafferty wrote that the number of credible fear referrals rose by more than 250% between fiscal year 2012 and 2013. He said the department conducted its review "in light of the increased allocation of resources devoted to credible fear adjudications and the attention on these adjudications."

    Advocates for immigrants criticized the changes, which they said will make it more difficult for those seeking protection in the United States.

    Judy London, directing attorney of the Immigrants' Rights Project at the pro bono law firm Public Counsel in Los Angeles, said the memo appears to be "a signal to asylum officers to be very wary about finding credible fear."

    "The response of our government through this memo seems to be we need to make it more difficult for [immigrants] to establish their eligibility to stay here rather than looking at what is causing this increase," London said.

    The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.
    Advocates for immigrants say the surge in credible fear claims is linked to worsening gang and drug violence in Central America. Others claim those who cross the border are simply becoming more aware of asylum as an option.

    In expedited removal, certain aliens seeking admission to the United States are immediately removable from the United States by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), unless they indicate an intention to apply for asylum or express a fear of persecution or torture or a fear of return to their home country.

    http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...#axzz2zCrdd3S0
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    US Simplifies Rejection Process for Asylum Claims

    by Bob Price 21 Apr 2014, 9:16 AM PDT
    breitbart.com



    The Obama Administration recently moved to make it easier for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) officers to reject the so-called “credible fear” claims by illegal immigrants captured along the border. After the increasing number of such claims, the CIS is clarifying its standards for evaluating asylum requests.

    At issue is the standards applied to asylum claims by immigrants captured along the U.S./Mexico border region. Current regulations require the immigrant making the credible fear claim must have a “significant possibility” of winning an asylum claim before a judge. According to a report in the San Antonio Express-News, John Lafferty, chief of the CIS Asylum Division defined “significant possibility” as requiring petitioners to “demonstrate a substantial and realistic possibility of succeeding in court.”

    Lafferty expressed concern that this standard was not being applied consistently and called for new training for officers. "In light of concerns that the application of the 'significant possibility' standard has lately been interpreted to require only a minimal or mere possibility of success, the revised (guidance) clearly states that a claim that has no possibility or only a minimal or mere possibility does not meet the ... standard," Lafferty wrote.

    The result of the inconsistent application of the standard has been a surge in illegal immigrants who would otherwise be deported without a hearing, being scheduled for a hearing and then released into the community pending the hearing which might not occur for years. Lafferty noted a 250 percent increase in the number of “credible fear” claims that have been forwarded to courts for hearings. From 2012-2013 over 36,000 “credible fear” claims were filed according to a 2013 Congressional Research Service Report on asylum.

    In August 2013, journalist Lee Stranahan addressed the issue of asylum requests overwhelming the system in a Breitbart News piece titled, "Sudden Flood of Asylum Requests at U.S./Mexico Border." His piece revealed what seemed to be a rehearsed and coordinated effort on the part of non-citizens to use key phrases and catchwords in an effort to gain legal entry into the United States.

    Other statistics from the CIS show the vast majority of the “credible fear” claims were approved and sent to an immigration judge for a final decision. Once this occurs, the immigrants are released and allowed to apply for work permits while their cases are pending, which can take years to reach the courtroom and a judge.

    If the claim is rejected by the detaining officers, the illegal immigrant, who was captured near the border, is subjected to “expedited removal” which allows them to be deported without seeing a judge. The odds of a judge finding in their favor are remote according to statistics. Therefore, the more liberal application of the principle allows many illegal immigrants, who should rightfully be deported, an opportunity to cheat the system and obtain a temporary legal status while awaiting their undeserved day in court.

    This refocus on the execution of existing policy as it is written--instead of how it has been applied should reduce the numbers of fraudulent claims of credible fear, but some immigration attorneys do not agree. El Paso immigration attorney Carlos Spector told the San Antonio Express-News that the memo from Lafferty converts CIS asylum officers into immigration judges. “The message here is: You are now empowered to send people back,” Spector said.

    http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-T...-Asylum-Claims
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