Immigrants who enter the country illegally are becoming less likely to be deemed eligible for asylum, as federal authorities tighten standards amid an increase in Central American migrants this year.
As an initial step to request asylum, apprehended migrants who say they are scared to go back to their home country are screened to determine if they have "credible fear" of persecution or torture. In July, the most recent month available, 63% of those who claimed they were afraid to return were found to have met that criterion, down from 83% six months earlier, according to a report released to immigrant-rights groups by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The decline comes after the agency's Asylum Division toughened the criteria its officers use during the interviews. The goal of the new guidelines, according to an agency official, is to ensure that immigrants with little to no chance of obtaining asylum in immigration court are quickly sent home.
Immigrant advocates say the tougher screening criteria are preventing many immigrants from being able to make a case for asylum before a judge.
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"It's turning away people who may very well have been entitled to asylum protection," said Eleanor Acer, refugee protection director at Human Rights First, a New York-based nonprofit group.
The Asylum Division is one of many federal agencies that have been taxed by an influx of tens of thousands of immigrants who have illegally entered the country from Central America this year, many saying they were seeking refuge from gang violence and poverty. From October to June, the Asylum Division received 36,334 credible-fear claims from immigrants, surpassing the 36,035 in the 12 months of fiscal 2013, data from the office shows. Immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras accounted for the majority of the claims.Read the rest of the story HERE.
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