In the last fiscal year (which ended in September), the immigration courts granted a record number of asylum applications, and the rate of cases accepted and the speed in the processing of files grew, according to an analysis of judicial records carried out by the University of Syracuse, which, however, shows a decline in concessions since July, when an express lane was launched.
These numbers may reflect the impact of the policies activated by the Joe Biden government to alleviate the record backlog of cases pending in the courts, and are known precisely when the immigration authorities are studying new measures to deal with the end of Title 42 on the next 21 from December.
This policy of former President Donald Trump allowed the expulsion of the majority of migrants at the border, hiding behind the emergency caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
A judge ordered the Government to eliminate it (as it wanted to do months ago but another judge did not allow it), and the federal authorities requested a five-week period to adjust to a possible massive arrival of migrants.
The news outlet Axios advanced this Wednesday some of the possible measures that the Administration is considering to prevent the exodus, which vary from increasing the legal options to request asylum, promoting legal migration (such as the new program for Venezuelans), to recovering very harsh initiatives from the Trump era, particularly for single adults trying to get in.
[Court hears arguments in major deportation case]
A Biden government official told Axios that the policy of "
managing the border in a safe, orderly and humane manner
" will be maintained.
"The work is being done," he said, "in a system that is long overdue for comprehensive legislative reform."
A record of cases accepted but not for all
Immigration judges granted asylum to
23,686 applicants
in fiscal year 2022 (October 2021 to September 2022), a huge jump from the 8,945 granted in 2021, data from Syracuse University's TRAC system indicates.
The approval rate was also higher: from 36% in 2021 to 46% in 2022.
Cases also moved faster through the system, thanks to several initiatives of the Biden Administration, such as the one that established expedited procedures for families, who were placed at the beginning of a waiting list of more than 1.9 million pending cases. .
A family of Venezuelan migrants in Del Rio in June. Eric Gay / AP
However, the concession rate
decreased from July
, according to these data, coinciding with a greater number of fast-track files: when the requests were resolved between three and 18 months, the approval rates fell to 31%.
The most benefited migrants
were those who could count on a lawyer to defend their case;
without legal help, the number of files accepted was only 18%.
There are also marked differences
by nationality
.
The highest award rates were for applicants from Eritrea (89%), followed by Russia and Cameroon (88%).
At the bottom end was Brazil (16%);
Haiti went from 12% in 2021 to 24% in 2022.
Proposals reminiscent of Trump
Washington, DC federal judge Emmet Sullivan ordered in November the end of Title 42 but granted
a five-week extension
that expires on December 21.
The Biden government is analyzing a battery of initiatives against the clock, indicates an Axios report, some of them with restrictions reminiscent of Trump.
[Authorities evict some 800 migrants along the Rio Grande]
One of the proposed proposals would prohibit
single adults
who cross the border illegally from requesting asylum if they have not previously done so through the legal channels offered by the United States or have not requested protection in the other countries through which they passed.
These migrants would be under immediate deportation order.
As migrants look to the end of Title 42 with hope, Republicans redouble their efforts to keep it
Nov 23, 202201:42
The measure would consider exceptions for extreme circumstances, although the details of what those would be are unclear, Axios reported.
Another proposal calls for increasing criminal prosecution of single adults who have crossed the border illegally, targeting primarily those who try to evade Border Patrol.
However, one source said it would be difficult for the Justice Department to sell this idea to the public.
Incentives to request asylum
The Biden Administration announced in mid-October new measures to control Venezuelan migration: a program that gives legal status for two years to those who arrive by plane and immediate expulsion of the majority of those who cross the border through Mexico.
These initiatives initially showed positive results, which leads immigration officials to evaluate similar policies before the end of Title 42, federal government sources told Axios.
The number of Venezuelans trying to cross the border has fallen significantly since its implementation, according to the government.
In October the number of Venezuelans who tried to cross the border fell drastically
Nov 15, 202200:28
Immigration authorities are seeking to expand the program to
Nicaraguans
, who, like Venezuelans, often have difficulty returning to their country of origin due to difficult government relations with the US. Any expansion would largely depend on the cooperation with Mexico or other countries to house people returned by the US.
[Migrant couples
stranded in Ciudad Juárez get married]
Also being considered, according to Axios, is improving resettlement programs for refugees from the Western Hemisphere to give more options to legal migration.
Finally, the administration is considering
using an app
run by the Customs and Border Protection agency to allow migrants to schedule a meeting at a legal point of entry before reaching the border, according to a source with direct knowledge of the idea.