More families and unaccompanied children arrive seeking asylum in the US
Photo: John Moore / Getty Images
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), on which immigration policies depend, and the Department of Justice (DOJ), which manages immigration courts, announced Friday in a statement the creation of a new exclusive way to process “faster” the asylum cases of families who are intercepted at the border crossing illegally as of this Friday, May 28.
Until May 27th, undocumented immigrant families who came to the border in search of asylum were expelled to Mexico under Title 42 imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, a measure adopted by the government of Donald Trump.
The new immigration process for undocumented immigrant families waiting to apply for asylum was announced by the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas and the Attorney General Merrick B. Garland who said it will allow faster and more fair decisions in immigration cases of immigrant families who arrive at the southern border of the United States and request asylum.
This new process should significantly reduce the amount of time it takes for migrants to resolve their cases and, at the same time, provide fair hearings for the families seeking asylum on the border. The Immigration Court, which has about 500 judges, has accumulated just over 1.3 million cases.
Under this new process, certain undocumented immigrant familiesNew arrivals can be included in the so-called “dedicated file” that will expedite their processing asylum.
Families can qualify if they are detained between ports of entry on or after Friday, May 28, 2021, if they have been placed in deportation proceedings, or if they are enrolled in Alternatives to Detention (ATD).
A faster asylum processing service
DHS, in partnership with the Department of Justice (DOJ) Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), will put out information services to assist immigrant families understand the immigration system and refer families that applies to asylum to pro bono legal service providers for possible legal representation.
The EOIR has identified immigration courts in 10 cities with established communities of legal service providers and judges available to handle cases.
The designated cities are Denver, Detroit, El Paso, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle.
According to the dedicated docket, EOIR immigration judges will generally work to render a decision within 300 days of the initial master calendar hearing, subject to the unique circumstances of each case, including the time for the Undocumented immigrant families seek legal representation when necessary.
While the goal of this process is to decide cases quickly, the authorities assure that immigrants will also be treated fairly.
“The families who arrive at the border and are placed in immigration proceedings must have their cases resolved in an orderly, efficient and fair manner ”, said the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “The families that have recently arrived should not languish in a backlog of several years. Today’s announcement is an important step for both justice and border security. “
“The mission of the immigration courts of the Department of Justice is to decide cases that are brought before them quickly and fairly,” said the Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “This new program for certain families newcomers will help achieve that critically important goal. “
The change in the procedure for processing the asylum of immigrant families shows the will of the Biden government to create a just and humane immigration system.
