Immigration advocates condemn new US rule on Caribbean asylum seekers

NEW YORK, CMC – Immigration advocates have condemned a proposed new rule that they say will significantly impact Caribbean and other asylum seekers.

The new rules were published on Thursday by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS said it published, through US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would allow statutory bars to asylum to be applied much earlier in the process.

It said US federal law bars individuals who pose a national security or public safety risk from asylum, specifically those who have been convicted of a particularly serious crime and participated in the persecution of others.

DHS said such migrants are inadmissible on national security or terrorism-related grounds and that while anyone, who is deemed to pose a public safety threat is taken into custody, the asylum eligibility determination is not currently made until later in the process.

The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an umbrella policy and advocacy organisation that represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York State, said that the new measure will seriously affect how asylum seekers will be screened.

The DHS also announced changes to policy guidance affecting Caribbean and other immigrants' ability to seek asylum.

“The Biden administration's proposed rule, accompanied by changes to policy guidance, is alarming and a setback to our humanitarian commitments,”  NYIC's president and chief executive officer, Murad Awawdeh, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

“These are not small or insignificant changes. They will limit people's ability to access safety when they are most vulnerable and will have long-term consequences on their ability to live with security in this country.

“The policy change allowing the use of classified information at any stage in immigration proceedings has the potential to be weaponised against Black and Brown communities, Muslims, and others, in ways reminiscent of the aftermath of 9/11,” Awawdeh added.

He said rather than double down on an enforcement-only approach that has failed for decades, “now is the time to act with courage and urgency to meet the needs of our current reality with solutions that work.

“We must move past the dysfunction of the past 30 years and work together to create a fair and orderly immigration system that includes a pathway to status for all those who call America home, while welcoming people with dignity,” he said.

DHS said the proposed rule is part of the Biden administration's “continued efforts to enhance the security of our border and deliver more timely consequences for those encountered who do not have a legal basis to remain in the United States”.

From May 12, 2023 through May 1, 2024, DHS said it has removed or returned more than 720,000 migrants to 170 countries around the world.

Many of the immigrants arriving at the southern border of the United States seeking asylum and refugee statuses, and travelling to major cities, such as New York, are nationals of Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua.

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