Biden administration wants to revamp asylum system to speed up claim approval

Transfers management from Justice Department to U.S. Citizenship, Immigration Services

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KYMA, KECY/CNN) - The Biden Administration has proposed changes to how asylum seekers are handled with a goal of reducing the backlog of cases form the U.S.-Mexico border.

This proposal would give asylum officers priority to hear and decide applications instead of usually being handed straight over to immigration judges. Cases dealing with unaccompanied children and persons already living in the U.S. would not be affected.

"These proposed changes will significantly improve DHS's and DOJ's ability to more promptly and efficiently consider the asylum claims of individuals encountered at or near the border, while ensuring fundamental fairness," said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in a statement Wednesday. "Individuals who are eligible will receive relief more swiftly, while those who are not eligible will be expeditiously removed."

During the peak of our summer heat in July, U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered 212,672 people undocumented individuals. Of those, 45% were expelled and 27% had previously been caught trying to cross the border.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services estimates it needs to hire an additional 800 new employees and spend approximately $180 million to meet the goal of processing 75,000 cases annually.

"It does not adequately address the need to adjudicate in a timely manner the rapidly increasing number of asylum claims raised by individuals arriving in the United States," the rule reads.

This proposed rule will be published Friday in the Federal Register, and be open to public comment for 60 days.