WASHINGTON: Immigration officials propose streamlining the nation’s overwhelmed political asylum system, cracking down on abusers and cutting back on work permits for applicants, Congressional lawmakers will be briefed on the proposals this week, and a House subcommittee on immigration is expected to discuss them when it takes up several bills dealing with asylum Oct.20.

The proposals are the second set of immigration initiatives advanced by the Clinton administration to correct highly publicized flaws in the system.

Earlier this year, legislation was introduced to make it easier to exclude asylum seekers who arrive at U.S. airports without documents or with fake documents. The latest proposed reforms cover asylum applicants who already are in the country, legally or illegally.

“It’s a tough bill, and I have to say I’m gulping about it, but you can see things are serious (people) who want to do it right,” said Warren Leiden, director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, which often has criticized the asylum system.

Political asylum is intended only for foreigners who can demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group or political opinion,

But the asylum system is barely functional, More than 70% of the applications 147,000 last year alone are never decided. Others are decided only after years. Even the computer systems there are six are a mess; They can’t all talk to each other.

The INS has a huge case backlog now about 300,000 that is growing by nearly a third each year.

The proposed reforms would;

  • Double the number of asylum officers to about 300 and the number of immigration judges to about 150.
  • Grant work permits only to those approved for asylum, and increase the time most applicants have to wait for permits to 180 from 90 days.
  • Immediately reject obvious “boilerplate” applications those that are nearly identical, come from the same Zip code and are vague in detail.
  • Crack down on so called “notarios” and untrained, unscrupulous “immigration consultants” who charge applicants high fees to prepare fraudulent applications.
  • Warn applicants in writing they can be deported if they don’t show up for a hearing. About 16% never show.
  • Deport those denied. Now, few people denied asylum are never deported.
  • Fingerprint all applicants so those denied can’t come back under a different name.

Article extracted from this publication >>  October 22, 1993