Today the Biden administration announced the final version of a rule that will further undermine access to asylum at the southern border. The rule would permit asylum officers to consider complicated legal questions at the initial credible fear screening stage, and to swiftly order deportations in cases where they suspect certain statutory bars to asylum may be applicable. The Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS) submitted a public comment on the proposed rule in June, explaining how the regulation would curtail due process, violate our immigration laws, and result in the unlawful return of refugees to countries where they face persecution and torture. The government also received comments expressing strong opposition from the UN Refugee Agency, members of Congress, and numerous experts.
“This final rule erects yet another unlawful barrier to the asylum process. It will place the most vulnerable refugees at grave risk of harm,” Melissa Crow, CGRS Director of Litigation, said today. “When the first Trump administration proposed a version of this rule, the Biden administration rightly rejected it, even noting that applying statutory bars during credible fear interviews makes screenings less efficient. It is deeply disappointing that in its final weeks, the White House is doubling down on this misguided approach and providing the incoming administration with another tool to violate the rights of people seeking asylum. We have worked with many refugees with strong legal claims who would have been wrongly barred from protection under this new rule, including survivors of domestic violence. CGRS will be filing a legal challenge to this regulation, along with our partners at the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, Human Rights First, and the National Immigrant Justice Center.”