The USCIS Ombudsman confirmed that the Biden administration's policies have caused USCIS's affirmative asylum backlog to grow at a record-setting pace.
While officials from the USCIS Asylum Division have attributed the administration's expansive use of prosecutorial discretion to cancel large numbers of cases in immigration court as a significant factor in the increase of affirmative asylum filings, the USCIS Ombudsman specifically highlighted the Biden administration's expansive use of parole as a factor.
The USCIS Ombudsman explained that the creation of the Biden administration's parole programs has resulted in higher volumes of affirmative asylum filings and concluded that the USCIS Asylum Division "Does not have the capacity for additional prioritization of asylum applications filed by all noncitizens paroled into the United States" under these new programs.
The USCIS Ombudsman also cited the Biden administration's interim final rule, "Procedures for Credible Fear Screening and Consideration of Asylum, Withholding of Removal, and CAT Protection Claims by Asylum Officers", as another factor challenging the USCIS Asylum Division's ability to adjudicate cases.
The USCIS Ombudsman stressed that the USCIS needs to increase its staff size, use of technology, and need for appropriations to address the "Long-lasting challenges for the immigration system" that the "Immigration events of 2022" have caused.
If the USCIS leadership is serious about bolstering the legal immigration system and maintaining reasonable processing times for immigration services, it must focus its resources on programs that have been authorized by Congress.
The USCIS Ombudsman's 2023 report, while using more supportive phrasing, could not avoid highlighting the detrimental effects these policies have had on the legal immigration system.
https://cis.org/Jacobs/USCIS-Ombudsman-Confirms-Biden-Policies-Hobble-Legal-Immigration-System
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