US Plans Rule Change to Speed Up Decisions on Asylum Cases

It is estimated that the U.S. has almost 1.7 million asylum¹ cases waiting to be heard in immigration courts. And that is only for people who tried to enter along the border with Mexico.

The administration of President Joe Biden has set rules that permit asylum officers instead of judges to decide asylum claims. That could help reduce the number of cases waiting for a hearing.

However, with such a large number of refugees³, it is unclear how soon people will see results.

The new rules could go into effect in just over 60 days. The goal is for asylum seekers to find out their status in months instead of years.

The changes affect both officers who are part of the Department of Homeland Security and judges whose courts are supervised⁴ by the Department of Justice.

Alejandro Mayorkas leads the Department of Homeland Security. He said: "The current system...has long needed repair."

Merrick Garland is the U.S. Attorney⁵ General. He said the new rules will help "ensure that asylum claims are processed fairly, expeditiously⁶ and consistent⁷ with due process."

Under the new rules, asylum officers will decide cases in 90 days. Those who are rejected will be seen by judges who will then decide their cases in 90 more days. The judges will be able to decide cases faster than in the past because they can get more information from the officers.

Immigration experts are split⁸ on the new plan. Some believe the rules will prevent refugees from waiting so long for the safety of the U.S. But, others say the process may move too quickly for refugees to find lawyers who can help their asylum request.

Eleanor Acer is a director for refugee² protection at Human Rights First. In a statement, she expressed concern about the increased speed, saying it could lead to mistakes and then more time in the courts to correct the mistakes.

Others who worry that the U.S. is becoming too open to refugees said officers will not be as able as judges to reject false asylum claims. But government officials disagreed with that position.

Another concern is that the U.S. is not planning to employ more asylum officers, even as they work to deal with the huge number of cases. Last year, the U.S. government estimated it needed 800 more asylum officers, but the new plan will not start by including new workers.

In addition, the new rules may not be put in place as soon as Homeland Security and the Department of Justice would like. The announcement of the rules was released last August and received more than 5,300 comments from the public. Other changes to the immigration system during both the leadership of Presidents Donald Trump⁹ and Biden have faced legal action.

Words in This Story

status –n. the official position of a person or thing according to the law

expeditiously –adj. acting¹⁰ or doing something in a quick and effective way

due process – n. the official and correct way of doing things in a legal case; the rule that a legal case must be done in a way that protects the rights of all the people involved

1 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

2 refugee   

n.难民，流亡者

参考例句：

• The refugee was condemned to a life of wandering.这个难民注定要过流浪的生活。
• The refugee is suffering for want of food and medical supplies.难民苦于缺少食物和医药用品。

3 refugees   

n.避难者，难民( refugee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The UN has begun making airdrops of food to refugees. 联合国已开始向难民空投食物。
• They claimed they were political refugees and not economic migrants. 他们宣称自己是政治难民，不是经济移民。

4 supervised   

v.监督，管理( supervise的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The architect supervised the building of the house. 建筑工程师监督房子的施工。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He supervised and trained more than 400 volunteers. 他指导和培训了400多名志愿者。 来自辞典例句

5 attorney   

n.（业务或法律事务上的）代理人，辩护律师

参考例句：

• He acted as attorney for me.他充当我的律师。
• The attorney for the union accused the Mayor of playing politics.工会的律师谴责市长在这次罢工中耍阴谋。

6 expeditiously   

adv.迅速地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• They have to be evaluated expeditiously, carefully with the patient fully UNDRESSED. 我看过许多的枪伤患者，但是就只有阿扁的伤口没有上述情形，真是天佑台湾。 来自互联网
• We will expeditiously facilitate trade transactions with the utmost professionalism. 我们会尽快贸易便利化的交易与最大的专业水平。 来自互联网

7 consistent   

adj.坚持的，一贯的，一致的，符合的

参考例句：

• He has been a consistent friend to the Chinese people.他是中国人民始终如一的朋友。
• His action is always consistent with his words.他始终言行一致。

8 split   

n.劈开，裂片，裂口；adj.分散的；v.分离，分开，劈开

参考例句：

• Who told you that Mary and I had split up?谁告诉你玛丽和我已经离婚了？
• The teacher split the class up into six groups.老师把班级分成6个小组。

9 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

10 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。