An internal government report obtained by Axios shows that, by the end of the fiscal year in September, there will be eight million asylum seekers in the United States. That's an increase of 167% since 2019.
In 2019, there were three million asylum seekers allowed to stay in the United States while their cases were being adjudicated. It's hard to say how many of those three million are still seeking asylum so most of the eight million who have entered the U.S. since then came in when Joe Biden was in office.
The reason there are so many asylum seekers is our ludicrous policy regarding asylum claims in the first place.
If you walk over the border and turn yourself into the border patrol, if you claim persecution, if you say your husband beats you, if you say you can't go home because the government will kill you, that's usually enough to start a cursory investigation. In other words, a glorified Google search. You don't have to prove anything.
Certainly, there are many people who seek asylum who need it. They really are being beaten by their husband or would be killed if they went home. But how many of the eight million people wanting to claim asylum are here for a job or a better opportunity?
I think it's wonderful. So why not do it legally? There are more than 800,000 people around the world who are filling out the paperwork, going through the interviews, and jumping through hoops to come here legally. Is proximity to the United States the overriding criteria for entry?
At the end of fiscal 2023 last Sept. 30, more than 6 million people were on what officials call the "non-detained docket."
The government projects that will grow to 8 million by Oct. 1, according to Homeland Security documents sent to Congress.
This includes people who have been ordered to be deported, or who don't have final decisions from U.S. officials on their asylum or other immigration cases — but who aren't being held in the limited detention space that's available.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has about 40,000 detention beds.
An estimated 2 million of the migrants in the backlog likely will be high-priority cases — mostly those who have orders to be deported to their home countries, and some with criminal records or pending criminal charges, according to the documents.
Before we "reform" our immigration laws, the asylum issue must be dealt with. It makes no sense to streamline immigration if the number of asylum seekers is going to continue to grow.
Asylum seekers should be required to enter the U.S. at a regular point of entry. Anywhere else they come in should tag them as "illegal" and unable to apply for asylum for several years. How many border crossers only claimed asylum after being caught by the border patrol? It's madness.
Secondly, the "Remain in Mexico" policy needs to be revived. Requiring asylum seekers to return to the country they were in before entering the U.S. would discourage abuse of the asylum system.
International law states that the U.S. must entertain all requests for asylum. The law doesn't say the asylum seeker has to remain in the U.S. We can still follow international law without having to allow eight million people free reign in our country.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member