On Friday, the Biden Administration announced that it plans to increase the pace of migrant processing by expanding its use of Credible Fear Interviews (CFIs) on asylum seekers in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody.
In these interviews, border officers determine whether asylum seekers have a “credible fear” for their life to return to their home country that corresponds to a valid asylum claim. In practice, this process consists of cruel, ruthless interrogations on vulnerable migrants, including children, who have no access to counsel.
Without passing the CFI, asylum seekers cannot proceed with their asylum claims, and border officials have the power to swiftly deport them back to Mexico or their home country. Rushed processing means more vulnerable asylum seekers will undergo further trauma, will not be guaranteed due process, and will be returned directly to the danger they are fleeing.
Lawyers for Good Government strongly condemns this decision by the Department of Human Services and urges the Biden Administration to build in actual legal protections to ensure human rights.
““I witnessed firsthand the last time Credible Fear Interviews were conducted inside of CBP facilities during the Trump Administration. While the Trump administration claimed to provide legal counsel to asylum seekers in their CFIs, in reality attorneys were often unable to provide more than 5 minutes of rushed preparation on a phone line without any privacy from CBP guards. We were not allowed inside the facilities, and migrants often sobbed and pleaded for more time to prepare for their interviews.
When the Biden administration starts taking their policies from the last President, we can only assume that they will also take their guidance on what access to counsel looks like, too. L4GG urges the administration to do better, and are prepared to fight back should they choose to inflict more harm on vulnerable people fleeing persecution in their home countries.””