'Dignity Act' seeks to overhaul immigration amid crisis: 'Revolutionary bill'
3. Asylum reform
Amid an overwhelming number of asylum claims that have left courts clogged with backlogs and fraud, the Dignity Act would seek to improve the asylum system by establishing at least three "humanitarian campuses" near the border to expedite on-site processing.
The reforms endeavor to reduce most asylum decisions to within 60 days, with an initial interview within 15 days of arrival and another 45 days for further screening before a final determination is made by an asylum officer.
Asylum seekers will be expected to remain at the humanitarian campus, where they will have "freedom of movement" and "access to state-of-the-art facilities, medical personnel, social workers, mental health professionals, legal counsel, and non-governmental organizations," according to a press release from Salazar's office.
The bill would also end "catch-and-release," implement a "two-strike" policy to crack down on repeat unauthorized crossings, and seek to stymie child sex trafficking by requiring DNA testing for sponsors of unaccompanied minors, while strengthening penalties for fraud.
Additional immigration processing centers in Latin America would also be established to prevent migrant caravans and offer pre-asylum screening, family re-unification services and employment consultation.
The asylum reform measures in the Dignity Act have faced criticism from both sides of the immigration debate, with the left-leaning National Immigration Law Center arguing that "the new process gives people little time to prepare their case and removes important due process protections like review by a judge."
The editorial board of the conservative National Review described the proposed reforms last month as "another way of formalizing the abuse during the Biden administration of substituting a non-adversarial process in the place of a lawful judicial hearing."
"In other words, it's a forum for waving people in," they added.
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to jon.brown@christianpost.com
