Washington—After months of Congressional inaction, the administration this week took a needed step to address the growing border crisis by issuing an interim rule to change asylum application rules, prohibiting migrants who have traveled through a third country to apply for asylum in the U.S. if they failed to apply for asylum in the country they passed through.
From May 2017 to May 2019, border apprehensions increased by over 900%, largely driven by asylum-seekers from Central America's Northern Triangle, most of whom are denied asylum due to false claims or ineligibility. As apprehensions have reached their highest point in decades, Congress has repeatedly failed to act to address the problem. While the administration’s rule will help the current crisis, legislation is necessary to fix our broken immigration and asylum systems.
Jessica Anderson, Vice President of Heritage Action for America, issued the following statement about the regulation:
The crisis at our southern border is real. The current wave of migration is overwhelming our immigration system and hurting those who truly need asylum. While the administration’s new rule will mitigate the current crisis by reducing the rampant abuse of our asylum system, it’s only a temporary measure. It’s long past time for Congress to pass legislation to permanently secure the border, create common-sense asylum rules, and fix the roots of this humanitarian crisis.