Asylum Processing Rule is Now in Effect in the Courts and Asylum Offices of Seven Destination Cities – FAST TRACKED

A new rule went into effect on May 31, 2022. This rule radically alters the procedure for asylum seekers who are processed through expedited removal proceedings at the southern border. This rule is called Procedures for Credible Fear Screening and Consideration of Asylum, Withholding of Removal, and CAT Protection Claims by Asylum Officers <https://www.aila.org/infonet/dhs-and-doj-interim-final-rule-asylum-processing>.

Among other changes, those subject to the rule:

– Never submit an I-589; the asylum officer’s credible fear interview (CFI) notes become the asylum application;
– Are not placed directly into removal proceedings after passing a CFI and instead are referred to the Asylum Office for a new Asylum Merits Interview (AMI);
– Will be placed into new “streamlined” immigration court proceedings if they do not win before the asylum office;
– Must present their claim on an extraordinarily fast-tracked timeline, with the individual court hearing occurring within 180 days of the CFI.

Asylum Merits Interviews and Streamlined Removal Proceedings Are Now
Proceeding in Certain Cities

For now, USCIS is rolling out the rule through phased implementation
<https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-and-asylum/asylum/fact-sheet-implementation-of-the-credible-fear-and-asylum-processing-interim-final-rule>
and is currently only applying the rule to those who are processed through two
detention facilities in Texas and whose destination city is one of the following: Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Newark, San Francisco, or Chicago. Asylum offices in these cities have already begun to hear AMIs.

Only individuals who are placed into expedited removal proceedings after May 31, 2022, are potentially subject to the new process. Specifically, as noted in the rule, it “applies prospectively and only to adults and families who are placed in expedited removal proceedings and indicate an intention to apply for asylum, a fear of persecution or torture, or a fear of return to their home country, after the rule’s effective date.” The rule
does not apply to unaccompanied children.