Behind Biden’s asylum suspension: Migrants should say if they fear deportation, not wait to be asked

TUCSON, Arizona. Posters inside a complex of giant white tents tell migrants in English, Spanish, Mandarin and Hindi that they should inform an official if they fear being deported and “your claim will be heard.” On a side wall where migrants sit in a processing area, a video plays the same message on a loop.

Breaking with a practice in place since 1997, Border Patrol agents at detention facilities in Tucson, Arizona, and across the country no longer ask migrants if they fear deportation. Administration of President Joe Biden asylum temporarily suspended at the border on June 5 and, as part of this action, agents do not ask about fears. Migrants must address the issue themselves.

Immigration advocates call it the “scream test” – suggesting that migrants should shout out their fears – although agents are taught to respond to other signs of distress, such as crying, shaking or a change in tone of voice, and to refer migrants for screening if the behavior appears genuine. Anyone who is not vetted can be immediately deported.

It is unclear to what extent the “scream test” is responsible for a decline in border arrests of more than 50% since asylum was halted, a welcome development for Biden as he faces republican attacks of letting the border get out of control.

But administration officials said it is a critical change because migrants are more likely to say they fear deportation if asked.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said there are strict guidelines for agents to identify migrants who show any signs of fear. Posters at facilities explain new procedures and videos are shown at larger facilities like Tucson.

“We train, we update our training, we are in constant dialogue with our people,” Mayorkas said in an interview. “We are fulfilling our international and humanitarian obligations.”

If they pass a higher standard of screening, migrants can remain in the U.S. to obtain asylum-like protections, such as those provided for in the United Nations Convention Against Torture. In doing so, the administration has argued that it is complying with U.S. and international law that prohibits sending people to countries where they face persecution or torture.

Immigration advocates say migrants who show signs of fear can easily be ignored. The Gender Center & Refugee Studies, which sued the administration about the asylum suspension, said that 51 of the 97 families interviewed in 2020, when the “scream test” was briefly in effect during the COVID-19 pandemic, said they spoke to agents about their fear of deportation and another 21 expressed signs of non- verbal, but none were tracked.

Araceli Martinez, 32, told the Associated Press that she feared returning home with her 14-year-old daughter to a physically abusive husband, but no one asked her at the Tucson facility why she came and she didn’t know she had to speak until she went. too late. She was deported to Nogales, Mexico, last month.

Another Mexican, Christian Gutierrez, said he told authorities he wanted to seek asylum during three days in custody in San Diego, but it was no use.

“They completely ignored me,” Gutierrez, 26, told the AP while sitting on a bench in Tijuana, Mexico, after being deported. “They didn’t give me an opportunity.”

Those who consider Biden’s policies too lenient minimize the “scream test” — and the widespread suspension of asylum — as too little, too late. Robert Law, director of homeland security and immigration at the America First Policy Institute, said the test may have limited impact, but not for long.

“Eventually, word will get out to those who are training those who are trying to take advantage of the asylum system,” said Law, who handled asylum as head of policy at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services during the former president’s administration. Donald Trump.

Even those who get a screening interview face new obstacles. In addition to the higher standards, they have four hours to call a detention facility attorney, compared to the previous 24-hour period to prepare.

Those without lawyers receive a list of free legal service providers. Four-hour hours are from 7am to 7pm, including on weekends when many operators do not answer phones. Even during the week, they can get overwhelmed.

One Saturday morning, after the asylum was suspended, a woman’s voicemail began calmly with her name, date of birth, email address, booking number and date of arrest for illegally crossing the border into her home. 6 year old daughter. After a 20-second pause, she began to cry: “Why? Why? Why? Oh my God, please. A guard asked her if she was finished and she said yes.

RAICES, a group that provides free legal advice to migrants in Texas that obtained the voicemail, found the woman in custody days after she failed screening but was awaiting an appeal. An immigration judge reversed the decision, saying she should have been interviewed in her native language, not Spanish, and that her fears were justified. She was released to pursue her case in heavily packed immigration courts.

A 22-year-old Guatemalan woman with a one-year-old son told her lawyer that she did not understand the video instructing migrants to express any fear of being deported and that she felt confused and scared. She said she contacted RAICES when the Border Patrol gave her a list of lawyers after she failed screening.

The woman told her lawyer in a recorded phone call that she fled to the US to work and escape “those cartels.” Fighting back tears, she said her son had barely eaten in days.

“He wants to go for a walk, he wants to go out and play, but they won’t let him,” said the woman. An immigration judge denied her appeal and she was deported along with her son.

RAICES said it has been able to respond to 74 of the 1,215 calls it has received from people in Border Patrol custody since asylum was suspended on June 5. The organization provided recordings of its clients to the AP on the condition that their names and other identifying information not be published. due to concerns about their safety.

In Tijuana, the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, which provides free legal advice to migrants detained in San Diego, has been publicizing the changes. Director Attorney Melissa Shepard said callers seeking help often only have an hour to prepare for the interview.

“You’re the one who has to say I’m scared,” Shepard said at a migrant shelter last month. The audience seemed to listen attentively, but did not ask questions.