GSN_Mar_YUMPU

These changes may keep Asylum seekers
from getting their day in court
By Katie Shepherd
Effective February 27, 2017, new
changes to the asylum screening
process could lead to an increased
number of deportations of asylumseekers
who fear persecution upon
return to their home country.
On February 13, 2017, U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services
(USCIS) revised its Asylum Division
Officer Training Course (ADOTC)
lesson plans on how to assess an
asylum seeker’s credible and reasonable
fear of persecution or torture.
The lesson plans were revised to be
consistent with the January 25, 2017
Executive Order on border security
and immigration enforcement and
provide guidelines to the asylum officers
when conducting credible fear
interviews (for those at the border
or port of entry who were never previously
deported) and reasonable
fear interviews (for those who were
previously order deported but who
later seek asylum).
The changes to the lesson plans are
significant and may cause the denial
rate to skyrocket, in which case
thousands of asylum seekers would
be wrongfully denied a meaningful
day in court . Not only does the new
guidance provide asylum officers
with greater discretion to deny an
applicant for reasons which may be
out of the applicant’s control, but the
applicant will essentially be forced
to undergo a full asylum hearing
with none of the safeguards in place
to ensure a meaningful opportunity
to present a claim for relief.
Before the changes, recent arrivals
to the U.S. subject to expedited
removal were forced to undergo a
fear screening just days after traversing
hundreds of miles, sometimes
by foot. Some were separated
from loved ones at the border and
processed by U.S. Customs and Border
Protection
(CBP) in a
language they
did not understand;
many
were detained
for long hours
or days in a
cold, sterile
facility, and,
when the time
came for their
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fear interview with an Asylum Officer,
they often had great difficulty
articulating their story due to medical
problems, psychological trauma,
competency issues, or having their
children with them listening in. In
short, the odds were already stacked
against them. The revised lesson
plans create additional potential
hurdles to those seeking humanitarian
relief. Only time will tell if the
revisions will lead to higher rates of
deportation of asylum seekers with
strong claims for relief.
Now, under the new instructions,
applicants in the credible and reasonable
fear interview processes are
required to meet a higher standard
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