 |
|
Because of the way the court cases and the laws are written, DHS is required to treat people from Mexico differently from other countries, Nielsen said. "We want to apply the law equally to all, we're not exempting particular classes."
McSally jumped in, adding that while people may be "legitimately" seek asylum, "often it's a very small number" who succeed, she said. "But the way the law is written, all the have to say is a few key words," and they are allowed in the country. Later, the "vast majority" don't show up for that court date.
This means the "legitimate claims" are getting lost in the system, McSally said. “What (migrants) have learned is if they just say these words, then they’re immediately allowed to be sort of released into that system and because of the backlog of cases that sometimes is taking years now which is then impacting those who are truly asylum seekers,” the Republican congresswoman said.
“We are just raising the threshold, not so high that it can’t be achieved, but raising it so it’s just not saying these two words.”
However, according to data compiled by Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a Syracuse-university based database of federal records, denial rates on asylum cases over a five-year period range significantly, from as low as around 2 percent to nearly 94 percent depending on the judge. And, the odds of winning asylum is tied to representation, TRAC found.
|
|
|
|
