By Rebecca Santana and Elliot Spagat -
The Associated Press
Immigrants entering the United States illegally will be screened by asylum officers while in custody as part of a limited experiment that will give them access to legal counsel, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Friday. English).
[Biden announces new measures to further slow the entry of asylum seekers through the southern border]
The new plan will start with a small number of immigrants next week.
The authorities indicated that
the test is part of the preparations for when Title 42 expires
, the norm related to the coronavirus pandemic that has suspended the right to request asylum for many.
It is expected that this rule will cease to apply on May 11.
Migrants cross the Rio Grande into the United States from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, Wednesday, March 29, 2023.AP
If expanded, the new process could lead to a major change in the way immigrants are processed upon arrival on US soil to claim asylum.
[Biden denies plans for mass deportations to Mexico in an exclusive interview with Noticias Telemundo]
DHS officials detailed that they will begin working with a legal services provider, which they did not identify, and said that it will represent asylum seekers in initial investigations, known as "credible fear interviews."
Access to legal representation will be essential for the plan to move forward, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that have not been publicly announced.
The interviews will take place in large temporary Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) facilities equipped with phone lines that will be used for the hearings, according to authorities.
CBP policy limits detention to 72 hours, which will be the target time to complete verifications.
Only a third of asylum applications are approved by US immigration courts.
March 16, 202300:20
Former President Donald Trump began the expedited assessment while the individuals were in CBP custody, but his successor, Joe Biden, called it off in the first week of his presidency.
Biden administration officials say
the new plan is different because it offers access to legal advice
and requires that evaluations be conducted by USCIS asylum officers, not by immigration agents. Border Patrol, as was the case during the Trump Administration.
express interviews
Currently, it takes about four weeks before a screening interview can take place and, if someone does not meet the requirements, another four to five weeks before they are air deported to their home country, officials said.
The new tactic is intended to cut that time to less than 72 hours, the maximum allowed to hold someone in a CBP facility, under agency policy.
“This administration will continue to examine every tool at its disposal to make the processing of asylum [cases] more efficient, while maintaining due process and other protections, as Congress refuses to act to fix our immigration system. immigration management, which has been flawed for decades," the DHS said in a statement.
In order for the Government to be able to set new limits on asylums, it must first comply with this requirement
Feb 22, 202300:26
The Government has carried out 2.7 million expulsions of immigrants under Title 42
, which has been in force since March 2020 and denies the right enshrined in US and international law to request asylum on the grounds that it is intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19. .
Title 42 is scheduled to end on May 11, when the United States will lift its latest coronavirus-related restrictions.
DHS officials have estimated that smuggling across the southern border could rise to 13,000 the day after Title 42 expires, up from about 5,500 in February.
[The end of the national emergency for COVID-19 may mean the abrupt termination of Title 42 at the border]
Currently, few immigrants are screened at the border if they say they fear being deported back to their country
, and they are often released to continue their asylum-seeking proceedings in US immigration courts, a process that takes years due to because these courts have a lot of backlog.
The initial screening sets a relatively low bar, and 77% were approved in March, according to USCIS.
The final rate of approved asylum cases is much lower.
