New Rocket Docket for Adult Migrant Arrivals Announced; Biden’s New Asylum Ruling is a Big Flashing ‘Welcome’ Sign for Undocumented Immigrants

New rocket docket for adult migrant arrivals announced:

Pilot program to launch in five cities

The Biden administration on Thursday launched a new rocket docket process in five cities to quickly screen and remove unqualifying migrants who cross the border seeking U.S. asylum.

The announcement came the same day as several reports that the Biden administration plans to shut down the Southwest border if migrant encounters exceed 4,000 per day.

The Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice said Thursday that the new Recent Arrivals Docket process will more expeditiously resolve immigration cases for non-citizen single adults who arrive between legal U.S. ports of entry.

A similar rocket docket system for families called the Dedicated Docket was started in 2021. However, migrant advocates said the system did not allow families enough time to gather information and plead immigration cases.

Federal officials promise this new program will be fair and reduce the wait time for thousands of asylum-seekers and the costs associated with their stay if they do not qualify to be in the country.

“Today, we are instituting with the Department of Justice a process to accelerate asylum proceedings so that individuals who do not qualify for relief can be removed more quickly and those who do qualify can achieve protection sooner,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said asylum-seekers will receive fair but quick screenings.

“These measures will advance that mission by helping to ensure that immigration cases are adjudicated promptly and fairly,” Garland said.

The current backlog for pending U.S. immigration cases is almost 3.6 million, and 1.2 million immigrants are waiting for asylum hearings, according to Transactional Access Records Clearinghouse of Syracuse University, which tracks immigration cases nationwide. —>READ MORE HERE

Biden’s new asylum ruling is a big flashing ‘Welcome’ sign for undocumented immigrants:

On May 16, 2024, the administration announced the formation of a new recent arrivals docket process to more expeditiously resolve the asylum claims of single adults who are apprehended at the border after making an illegal crossing.

The announcement claims that the objective of the program is to “accelerate asylum proceedings so that individuals who do not qualify for relief can be removed more quickly and those who do qualify can achieve protection sooner.”

This does not mean that the asylum claims of these illegal crossers will be disposed of at the border. They will be released into the country for a hearing before an immigration judge in accelerated docket proceedings.

The accelerated docket will operate in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City. The Justice Department has assigned 10 judges who will try to render decisions within 180 days.

This program appears to be just another scheme to let more undocumented migrants into the country. It isn’t likely to achieve its claimed objectives, and the prospect of being released into the county to wait for an asylum hearing will encourage more single adults to make illegal crossings.

Biden already has an accelerated docket, but it is for families who are apprehended at the border after making an illegal crossing, not for single adults. The families are enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention program and released to wait for their hearings, which is probably how the single adults in the new program will be handled. But the judges handling the family cases are expected to issue their decisions within 300 days, not 180.

I expected organizations that support immigration to be pleased with this program because it lets undocumented immigrant families into the country with little likelihood of having to leave if they fail to establish a lawful basis for remaining. But they weren’t. —>READ MORE HERE

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