SAN DIEGO, United States (CMC) — The California-based Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) has strongly denounced a new asylum rule by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), warning that the policy will accelerate deportations and deny vulnerable Caribbean and other immigrants a fair opportunity to seek protection.

HBA said the new rule, which is “being implemented under the guise of reducing the asylum backlog”, allows asylum officers to bypass key procedural steps and shift more cases into immigration court or removal proceedings, “raising serious concerns about due process and access to justice”.

HBA Executive Director Guerline Jozef told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that the United States must not address an administrative backlog by creating barriers that prevent people fleeing persecution from receiving a fair hearing.

“For Haitian migrants, black migrants and other migrants of colour, this rule raises profound concerns that the asylum system is moving away from protection and toward exclusion,” she said, adding that, “By fast-tracking decisions and stripping away critical safeguards, this policy puts the lives of asylum seekers seeking humanitarian protection at serious risk.”

“Every person seeking safety deserves due process, dignity and an opportunity to be heard,” Jozef said, urging the Trump administration to immediately withdraw the rule and uphold the United States’ legal obligations under both domestic and international law to protect those fleeing violence, persecution and instability.

“We also urge the US Congress to exercise its oversight authority by conducting a hearing on the rule,” she said.

In the interim, Jozef said HBA is exploring the filing of a lawsuit challenging the rule under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees USCIS, earlier this week issued a statement after USCIS announced the rule change that it said is “designed to reduce the backlog in the asylum system”.

DHS said that, currently, both USCIS and Department of Justice (DOJ) immigration judges adjudicate applications for asylum.

DHS said USCIS adjudicates “affirmative” asylum applications for “aliens who are not in removal proceedings”, while immigration judges adjudicate “defensive asylum applications for aliens who are in removal proceedings”.

Depending on the immigrant’s status, DHS said USCIS will usually either adjudicate the application or refer it to an immigration judge, who will then conduct a new review of the application.

“This essentially allows an alien to get a second chance at asylum,” DHS said, adding that the interim final rule allows USCIS to refer asylum applications to immigration judges “without first interviewing the alien”.

“This rule will shorten the total time that it takes asylum officers and immigration judges to adjudicate asylum applications. Among other reasons, USCIS is making this change to reduce the asylum backlog.”

USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said, “For far too long, the asylum system has been exploited for purposes of delay and work authorisation, not legitimate claims of protection.”

“America’s asylum system exists to protect individuals who genuinely fear persecution, and this rule will help ensure that resources are directed to the timely adjudication of those claims instead of to those seeking to use the system as a loophole,” he said.

DHS General Counsel James Percival said one of the greatest barriers to effective immigration enforcement is intentional delay by illegal aliens and the open borders attorneys who represent them.

“My office works every day with the immigration components of DHS to improve efficiency and fulfill the president’s mandate,” he said. “The rule would do just that.”

DHS said the new rule is effective immediately.