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DHS and DOJ issue asylum officer processing interim final rule

Validated finding · five-country-2010-20260922-v118-evidence-presentation-fix

CountryUnited States
Operative dateMay 31, 2022
CategoryHumanitarian
Policy toolProcessing
Affected groupNew applicants

Policy effect

DHS and DOJ issued an interim final rule allowing certain noncitizens with positive credible fear determinations to have asylum, withholding, and CAT claims considered by USCIS asylum officers.

Official source excerpt

Quoted verbatim from the official source below. Ellipses indicate omitted text.

… asylum-and-withholding-only proceedings properly balanced the need to prevent noncitizens from being removed to countries where they may face persecution or torture with ensuring efficiency in the overall adjudication process. *See id.* This rule offers another approach. It establishes a streamlined and simplified adjudication process for individuals encountered at or near the border, placed into expedited removal, and determined to have a credible fear of persecution or torture, with the aim of deciding protection claims in a more timely fashion while ensuring appropriate safeguards against error.\[[13](#footnote-13-p18090)] The rule authorizes USCIS to adjudicate in the first instance the asylum claims of individuals who receive positive credible fear determinations under the expedited removal framework in section 235(b)(1) of the INA, [8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)](https://www.govinfo.gov/link/uscode/8/1225). The procedures that USCIS asylum officers will use to adjudicate these claims will be nonadversarial, and the decisions will be made within time frames consistent with those established by Congress in section 208(d)(5)(A) of the INA, [8 U.S.C. 1158(d)(5)(A)](https://www.govinfo.gov/link/uscode/8/1158).\[[14](#footnote-14-p18090)] The Departments believe that the approach in this rule, in contrast to the approach outlined in the Global Asylum rule, will allow for noncitizens' claims to be heard more efficiently and fairly. As further explained in this rule, allowing noncitizens with positive credible fear determinations to have their asylum, statutory withholding, and CAT protection claims heard in a nonadversarial setting before an asylum officer capitalizes on the investment of time and expertise that USCIS has already made and, for the subset of cases in which asylum is granted by USCIS, saves investment of time and resources by EOIR and ICE. *See* Sections II.C. and IV.D.5 of this preamble. The extensive and well-rounded training that asylum officers receive is designed to enable them to conduct nonadversarial interviews in a fair and sensitive manner. This rule will also enable meritorious cases to be resolved more quickly, reducing the overall asylum system backlogs and using limited asylum officer and IJ resources more efficiently. If the asylum officer does not grant asylum following an Asylum Merits interview, the noncitizen will be referred to an IJ for streamlined …
Federal Register 87 FR 18078Federal Register 87 FR 18078. DHS and DOJ issue asylum officer processing interim final rule. Effective 2022-05-31.Open official source
Retrieved from https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/03/29/2022-06148/procedures-for-credible-fear-screening-and-consideration-of-asylum-withholding-of-removal-and-cat

Review method

Two separate automated exact-claim source reviews

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