ICE Directive Aids Migrants Seeking Asylum

(AP)

The Biden administration sent a memo to border security officials issuing new measures that make it easier for migrants to claim asylum.

The memo from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acting director Patrick J. Lechleitner includes requiring the installation of signs that basically instruct migrants on what to say and how to act when being questioned at the border.

Biden on Tuesday issued a pre-election executive order imposing new rules on migrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. The order limits access to asylum for those crossing the southern border illegally after illegal migrant encounters hit 2,500 per day for seven consecutive days.

However, even with the new rules, about 1.8 million migrants still will be admitted to the U.S. each year, the New York Post reported.

Lechleitner’s memo says migrants who display a “manifestation of fear” about being returned to their native country will be referred to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration (USCIS) services for a credible fear interview.

ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations must post signs at border facilities that say:

“If you

Are hungry or thirsty,

Need medical care,

Fear persecution or torture if removed from the United States,

Have been a victim of abuse,

Have been a victim of a sexual assault,

Have witnessed a crime,

Tell an Officer. Your claim will be heard.

You may be referred to a medical professional, an asylum officer, or other law enforcement professional.”

The memo requires the signs to be posted in English and Spanish, and be available in facility law libraries in Arabic, Bengali, French, Haitian, Creole, Hindi, K’iche’ (Quiché)/Kxlantzij, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

Lechleitner’s memo states that “any location where it is possible to show to noncitizens a video, the video provided explaining to noncitizens that they should raise these concerns should be played on a loop.”

The updated rules lift restrictions on those who arrive as “unaccompanied children, victims of a severe form of trafficking, those who face an acute medical emergency or an imminent and extreme threat to life and safety,” senior administration officials said during a call with media members.

Retired Deputy Patrol Agent in Charge of the El Paso Station Clay Thomas told the Post that those exemptions will be abused and utilized by Mexican cartels involved with migrant smuggling.

By making the categories public, “you just gave them the answer,” Thomas told the newspaper.