by Jennie Taer
The Biden administration’s proposed “Safe Third Country” agreement attempting to crack down on an expected surge in illegal immigration at the southern border has a major loophole that still allows migrants to be released into the country en masse, according to a document the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) sent to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Daily Caller News Foundation exclusively obtained.
The policy, which was proposed in anticipation of the end of the Title 42 public health expulsion order on May 11, would make migrants seeking asylum that already passed through a safe country on the way to the U.S. ineligible for asylum. The Border Patrol union raised its concerns to DHS, asserting that the rule would still allow for “catch and release” because of loopholes, such as making a claim of credible fear to trigger the need for years-long adjudication, according to the NBPC response.
“But importantly, the proposed rule is silent and makes no changes to the current process that allows noncitizens seeking review by an immigration judge to be released during the adjudicative process. There is nothing in the proposed rule that changes the current Catch and Release process and, as a matter of business necessity, the cartels operating to smuggle people into the United States will educate its ‘asylum’ clients to the proposed rule’s changes so they can – as before – be assured of gaining entry and work authorization in the United States,” the NBPC said in their response to DHS.
The Biden administration introduced the proposed rule on Feb. 23 amid a surge in illegal immigration at the southern border.
More than 2.3 million migrant encounters at the southern border were recorded by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in fiscal year 2022 and more than one million were already recorded in the first five months of fiscal year 2023.
The asylum system is backlogged, with a record of roughly 1.6 million cases, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), which analyzes and compiles government data. Those seeking asylum wait an average of 4.3 years nationwide for a judge to hear their claims.
The new rule doesn’t address that, the NBPC’s response said.
“There is also nothing in the proposed rule that actually facilitates an acceleration of the adjudicative process,” the NBPC said.
The NBPC acknowledged that the new policy would be a step in the right direction, but urged DHS to convey that illegal entry into the U.S. will not be tolerated, according to the response.
“The adoption of a preference for asylum seekers to first seek asylum in their earlier countries of transit and the creation of a rebuttable presumption against asylum eligibility are positive steps. But until the governing regulations make clear that unauthorized entry into this country will result in either immediate removal or continuous detention pending the adjudication of asylum applications, the justified hopes of noncitizens in their ability to enter and remain in the United States will continue to fuel a rush for our borders,” the NBPC said.
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Jennie Taer is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Joe Biden” by President Joe Biden. Background Photo “Border Wall” by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
