There are currently more than 1.3 million cases pending at our nation’s Asylum Offices. One reason for this massive backlog is that the number of asylum applicants far exceeds the ability of the Asylum Office to process cases. Another reason is the U.S.-Mexico border, where Asylum Officers (AOs) interview each new arrival to determine whether they meet the initial eligibility requirements for asylum. These interviews sap significant resources from the Asylum Office, though lately, the situation at the border has been easing. A third big reason for the backlog–and the subject of today’s rant–is the way AOs conduct asylum interviews, which routinely take four or five hours, and which waste considerable time on irrelevancies. (more…)
There are more than 117 million forcibly displaced people worldwide. If refugees and internally displaced people formed their own country, it would be the 12th largest nation in the world.
To raise awareness about this crisis, the International Olympic Committee created the Refugee Olympic Team, which first competed in Brazil in 2016. This year, the team is made up of 37 athletes, hosted by 15 National Olympic Committees, competing in 12 sports. One goal of the team–aside from winning medals–is to demonstrate to the world that refugees enrich the societies where they settle. Here, we’ll meet a few members of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team. (more…)
The Republican Party has released its Platform for 2024. As usual with these things, it is short on specifics and long on political rhetoric. The first issue mentioned in the Platform is immigration: “Common Sense tells us clearly, in President Trump’s words, that ‘If we don’t have a Border, we don’t have a Country.'” It continues: “We must not allow Biden’s Migrant Invasion to alter our Country.” “Under the Trump Administration and a Republican Congress, it will be defeated immediately.” But how?
The Platform has a six-part plan “to stop the open-border policies that have opened the floodgates to a tidal wave of illegal Aliens, deadly drugs, and Migrant Crime.” Here, we’ll take a look at the plan and I will offer some thoughts. (more…)
The Asylum Offices have lately begun scheduling interviews for the longest-waiting applicants. The good news is that people who have been waiting seven, eight, nine years or more are finally receiving interviews. The bad news is that the Asylum Offices are giving little notice prior to the interview–often only a week or two–and so applicants have insufficient time to get ready.
Last time, I wrote about what applicants themselves should be doing now to prepare for their interviews. Today, we’ll discuss how the Asylum Offices can improve efficiency and ensure due process of law for asylum seekers. (more…)