Haitian Bridge Alliance warns new US asylum rule will accelerate deportations
The group is exploring a legal challenge to a USCIS rule letting asylum officers refer cases to immigration judges without an interview.
NEW YORK, United States. The San Diego-based Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) on Tuesday, July 28, denounced a US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) rule change presented as a way to cut the asylum backlog, warning that it will accelerate deportations.
HBA said the rule lets asylum officers bypass key procedural steps and shift more cases into immigration court or removal proceedings, raising serious concerns about due process.
"The United States must not address an administrative backlog by creating barriers that prevent people fleeing persecution from receiving a fair hearing," executive director Guerline Jozef told Caribbean Life.
"For Haitian migrants, Black migrants, and other migrants of colour, this rule raises profound concerns that the asylum system is moving away from protection and toward exclusion," she said.
Calls for withdrawal
Jozef urged the administration to withdraw the rule immediately and asked Congress to hold an oversight hearing. HBA is exploring a lawsuit under the Administrative Procedure Act.
"Every person seeking safety deserves due process, dignity, and an opportunity to be heard," she said.
The government's case
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said USCIS currently handles "affirmative" asylum applications, while immigration judges handle defensive applications from people in removal proceedings. When USCIS refers a case, the judge conducts a new review, which DHS said "essentially allows an alien to get a second chance at asylum".
The interim final rule allows USCIS to refer applications to immigration judges "without first interviewing the alien", which DHS said would shorten adjudication times.
USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said the asylum system had "been exploited for purposes of delay and work authorisation, not legitimate claims of protection".
DHS General Counsel James Percival said intentional delay was "one of the greatest barriers to effective immigration enforcement".
The rule took effect immediately.
