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Citizenship & Immigration Services Official: "Our asylum system is being exploited"

Critics of the process say that leaves too much room for bad actors to take advantage of the system.
Credit: GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP/Getty Images
Central American migrants moving towards the United States are seen near the US-Mexico border fence with a sign that reads 'No obstacle can prevent us from reaching our dreams. We are Mexican. We are unstoppable' on November 13, 2018.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Can someone apply for asylum even if they cross the border illegally?

The answer is yes.

Generally, there are two ways someone can get asylum granted: either affirmatively or defensively.

If they’re doing it affirmatively, they go to a U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services asylum officer to go through the process. If they’re doing it defensively, they’re in court in front of an immigration judge.

Either one works.

To have that asylum granted, they need to be unable or unwilling to return to your country of nationality because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.

But critics of the process say that leaves too much room for bad actors to take advantage of the system.

Michael Bars, a U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services spokesman, gave the following statement:

"The extremely low bar for establishing credible fear is ripe for fraud and abuse. This is because once an individual overcomes this low threshold, the vast majority are then referred to an immigration judge and most are released on a promise to appear for a court date weeks, months, or years down the line, regardless of whether they plan to show up. In other words, a credible fear referral doesn’t equal asylum status, but it does earn a free ticket into the U.S., allowing individuals to disappear into the interior to live and work illegally. The reality is that our asylum system is being exploited by those simply seeking economic opportunity, not those fleeing persecution, exacerbating crisis after crisis at our Southern border and keeping those who truly need asylum in the back of the line. Congress must act to help fix this persisting abuse of our asylum system by raising the credible fear standard.”

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