MORGANTOWN – Attorney General Patrick Morrisey joined a multi-state lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s new approach to processing asylum-seekers at the southern border.
On March 29, the Biden administration announced an Interim Final Rule (IFR) that allows asylum officers to grant asylum, rather than immigration judges as specified by law, according to Morrisey’s Monday announcement and the text of the lawsuit.
Immigration judges within the Department of Justice’s Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) have adjudicated nearly all asylum claims, the suit says, while asylum officers within the Department of Homeland Security have had the authority only to conduct an initial screening of aliens’ asylum claims, called a “credible fear” review.
“In direct violation of statute, the Asylum IFR empowers asylum officers to conduct final adjudication of asylum claims arising from the border,” the suit says. “That rule eviscerates crucial safeguards to our nation’s immigration system and flouts clear statutory commands enacted by Congress. Defendants’ Asylum IFR makes it substantially easier for unauthorized economic migrants to enter the United States and obtain asylum through false claims.”
The suit names 15 separate defendants, including DHS, the Department of Justice, the Border Patrol several other agencies and their individual leaders. Arizona is the lead plaintiff, joined by West Virginia and 18 other states.
Morrisey said, “Again, this shows the Biden administration’s utter disregard for securing our southern border, this time by largely eliminating the process wherein asylum seekers must appear before a judge to prove their asylum claims. Instead, this administration is releasing illegal immigrants into our communities without any checks on their backgrounds. We are basically turning a blind eye to those who have violated our laws.”
Under the current system, the suit says, less than 15% of all asylum claims that pass DHS’s credible fear review are ultimately approved by immigration judges. EOIR’s adversarial process subjects the case to vigorous scrutiny, providing an essential safeguard against granting fraudulent and otherwise unmeritorious asylum claims
The new rule is set to take effect May 31. Under it, asylum-seekers also could be released into the country – instead of being held in custody – pending the outcome of their cases, Morrisey said.
If the asylum officer denies the claim, the asylum seeker can then appeal the case to an immigration judge.
The other plaintiff states are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah and Wyoming.
The case is filed in the U.S, District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.
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