IMMIGRATIONRepublicans Are Pushing for Drastic Asylum Changes – an Immigration Law Scholar Breaks Down the Proposal
There is bipartisan agreement for the need for immigration reform and stark disagreement on what that reform should be. Conservative Republicans in Congress are now proposing legal changes that would make it harder for most applicants to get asylum. The Republicans’ plan is similar to both a similar rule that the Department of Homeland Security adopted in 2019 and a policy that President Joe Biden is trying to push through. The proposed changes would make it almost impossible for a migrant entering through the U.S.-Mexico border to get asylum, even if that migrant has a legitimate fear of returning to his or her home country.
There is bipartisan agreement for the need for immigration reform and stark disagreement on what that reform should be.
A rise in illegal border crossings since 2020 has applied significant pressure for changing under what conditions someone can apply for asylum. This government system is designed to provide life-saving relief for noncitizens afraid of returning to their home countries.
Undocumented migrants entering the United States have few plausible options to legally stay in the country. For many migrants fleeing their countries due to violence, war, government collapse, natural disasters or any personal threats that could harm them, the only legal pathway of immigrating to the U.S. is by receiving asylum.
Conservative Republicans in Congress are now proposing legal changes that would make it harder for most applicants to get asylum.
The Republicans’ plan is similar to both a similar rule that the Department of Homeland Security adopted in 2019 and a policy that President Joe Biden is trying to push through.
I am an immigration professor and teach asylum law. I believe it’s important to understand what sets Republicans’ proposed law apart from previous iterations.
The president cannot change the law, but Congress can. If these lawmakers succeed in changing federal asylum law, the law would override the court decisions striking down previous versions. Because Congress has broad power over immigration, the new laws would likely be upheld if challenged in court.
Still, currently, most people who seek asylum do not receive permission to stay in the country, and they are deported.
Understanding Asylum
Currently, any noncitizen, including someone who already lives in the U.S. or who entered the country without a visa – can apply for asylum. This is true regardless of the person’s legal immigration status.
A person can ask the U.S. government for asylum only once they are in the country or at the border – and they must ask for asylum within a year of arriving in the U.S.
Applying for asylum is a complicated process that could take several years. Undocumented migrants often apply for asylum while they are detained in an immigration detention center.
Overall, asylum applicants will need to prove that they face severe harm in their home country from their government or someone their government cannot control, like an armed militia group. This potential severe harm must trace back to their race, religion, political opinion, nationality or some characteristic they cannot, or should not have to, change.
