Biden moving to restart Trump-era rapid asylum screenings at U.S.-Mexico border – sources

By Ted Hesson and Kristina Cooke

WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) – The United States is
poised to start using fast-track asylum screenings at the
U.S.-Mexico border, part of U.S. President Joe Biden’s recent
efforts to address a record number of illegal crossings, five
sources told Reuters.

The move is likely to upset immigration advocates, some
fellow Democrats and asylum officers who criticized similar
programs implemented under Republican former President Donald
Trump.

The government is starting to plan for the rapid screenings
to determine whether arriving migrants at the border have a
legitimate fear of persecution or torture in their home
countries – the first step in an asylum claim, the five sources
told Reuters.

A group of Biden administration officials visited the
U.S.-Mexico border this week in preparation for the new effort,
said two of the sources, both U.S. officials. It was unclear
when the fast-track screenings will begin.

Under the plan, asylum seekers detained by U.S. Customs and
Border Protection (CBP) would have remote interviews with a U.S.
asylum officer within days, the sources said. If the person
failed to establish a fear of persecution, known as a “credible
fear” test, they would be deported.

The White House and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
did not respond to a request for comment.

Reuters first reported in December that the fast-track
screenings were under consideration.

While the speedy processing could help Biden deter crossers
by demonstrating swift resolution of cases, opponents argue that
legitimate asylum seekers would not have adequate access to
lawyers and could be unjustly deported.

“Imagine fleeing your home and loved ones, arriving at a new
country to seek safety, and then being forced to present a
complicated legal claim less than two days later, from jail,”
said Heidi Altman, the policy director at the National Immigrant
Justice Center, calling it a “mockery of justice.”

The new policy would be similar to pilot programs from the
Trump administration, the sources said. Biden ended those
programs in an executive order issued soon after he took office
in January 2021.

Biden earlier this month expanded a pandemic-related border
expulsion policy started under Trump, while at the same time
opening up more legal pathways for migrants to enter the United
States, a move the administration said led to a drop in
crossings in January.

Michael Knowles, a representative of a labor union
representing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
workers including asylum officers, said the union has already
told USCIS it will oppose any new policies that restrict access
to asylum.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington and Kristina Cooke in
San Francisco; Editing by Mica Rosenberg and Alistair Bell)