Under Trump's New Project, Border Patrol Agents Have Approved Fewer Than Half Of Asylum Screenings
Since Border Patrol agents started conducting initial asylum screenings in June, they have approved fewer than half of the nearly 2,000 screenings they have completed, marking a steep drop from the usual rate of approvals done by asylum officers, according to government data obtained by BuzzFeed News.
The data confirms fears that immigrant advocates have had about the controversial pilot project launched by the Trump administration in June to have Border Patrol agents conduct the interviews, in addition to US Citizenship and Immigration Services asylum officers who have exclusively done so in the past. The 47% passage rate by border agents appears to be lower than the publicly available data, which shows USCIS officers typically have a more than 80% passage rate in initial credible fear screenings.
Immigration advocates fear that Border Patrol agents are using an “enforcement mindset” in what is essentially a humanitarian screening to determine whether a person has a fear of persecution in their home country.
Administration officials have long been critical of the first asylum interview, known as a credible fear screening, as being too lenient. They have pushed asylum officers to be stricter in such interviews. Advocates and experts believe the pilot project is part of an overall focus to dismantle the asylum process, along with rules to bar asylum for those who cross through Mexico to get to the southern border.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hamedaleaziz/border-patrol-asylum-screenings
