Staff Reports
The Biden administration recently shared plans to speed up asylum cases for migrants arriving unlawfully in the U.S. Some experts are not sure if this plan will work well and worry it could make national security weaker.
‘Exploitable Loopholes’: Biden Admin’s Latest Plan To Deal With Immigration Surge Could Have Unintended Consequences https://t.co/EfUzlKM9rd via @dailycaller
— Brent Cutburth ?? (@brentcutburth) May 19, 2024
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) made a joint announcement about the plan. It is meant to make the asylum process quicker for certain single adult migrants who came into the U.S. without permission. This is an attempt to help the overwhelmed immigration court system with its huge backlog of cases. However, some experts think this plan won’t fix the bigger issue of more and more migrants coming in, and it might create risks for national security.
Instead of solving the problem of too many people coming into the U.S. unlawfully, the plan might make things more complicated. John Fabbricatore, a retired Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office director, warned that rushing through cases might lead to approving claims without checking them well enough. This could be dangerous.
The idea is to make it faster for judges to decide on asylum cases for illegal migrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. Those with real reasons for asylum will get help sooner, while those without legitimate claims will be turned away.
Alejandro Mayorkas, the Homeland Security Secretary, explained the Recent Arrivals Docket program as a way to speed up asylum cases. This program will focus on single adult migrants in specific cities and aims to finish cases in 180 days.
But not everyone thinks this is a good idea. Some critics worry that moving too fast could create problems that bad people might take advantage of. The immigration court backlog has grown a lot in the past few years because of the ongoing border issues. This backlog means long waits, sometimes for years, for cases to be settled.
Experts believe that these long waits might encourage more people to come into the U.S. illegally. They can claim asylum at the border and stay in the country for a long time before their cases are finished. Despite the need to clear the backlog, security checks are important to make sure the process is safe and fair.
Some experts, like Lora Ries from the Heritage Foundation, think the Biden administration should focus more on securing the border. This means stopping unauthorized entries that add to the long list of court cases. Measures like the Remain in Mexico program and having courts at the border could be used to prevent fraud and make sure the system is not misused.
It’s essential to balance helping people with following the rules to keep the country safe. The Biden administration’s new plan might need more thought to make sure it doesn’t create more problems.
