Do Expedited Asylum Screenings and Adjudications at the Border Work?

MAY 2021 Do Expedited Asylum Screenings and Adjudications at the Border Work? Expedited processing of asylum requests at the border hinges on unfair and unrealistic expectations that people seeking asylum, who on arrival at the border are often detained, unrepresented, separated from loved ones, and physically and mentally exhausted from their journeys to the United States, can immediately and ful. [...] Expedited asylum processing at the border is not effective, raises serious due process concerns, and sacrifices refugee protection in the name of speed - leading to erroneous decisions and deportation of refugees to persecution and torture. [...] These include failures by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and Border Patrol agents to follow basic required procedures to identify individuals who must be referred for credible fear interviews, intimidation and coercion of asylum seekers to withdraw requests for protection, failures by asylum officers to properly screen individuals, detention in abysmal conditions, and lack of access. [...] ■ Congress should act to create a fair and timely process that directly refers all asylum seekers for initial asylum adjudications with USCIS asylum officers and ensures adequate asylum officer staffing, while preserving crucial pathways to request protection in immigration court and to seek judicial review and avoiding the imposition of arbitrary deadlines or policies to rush asylum adjudications. [...] For cases that are not approved by the asylum office and referred to immigration court, which Congress should act to make an independent court, the administration can improve hearing efficiencies through the use of pre-hearing conferences and stipulations, restoring immigration judge authority to manage court dockets, and other steps.