Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for telling migrants not to come to the border, noting migrants can come to the border for asylum purposes. But seeking asylum is a difficult process that often doesn’t guarantee access to the U.S.
Harris told Guatemalans Monday not to come to the U.S., noting the dangerous journey benefits coyotes and that migrants should instead find a legal way to migrate to the U.S. (RELATED: Here’s How The Asylum System Is Being Exploited)
Ocasio-Cortez called Harris’ comments “disappointing,” noting “seeking asylum at any US border is a 100% legal method of arrival.”
This is disappointing to see.
First, seeking asylum at any US border is a 100% legal method of arrival.
Second, the US spent decades contributing to regime change and destabilization in Latin America. We can’t help set someone’s house on fire and then blame them for fleeing. https://t.co/vADyh5H0bw
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 7, 2021
The American Civil Liberties Union also criticized Harris’ comments, noting “seeking asylum is a legal right.”
REMINDER: Seeking asylum is a legal right. https://t.co/SPFawgx4QI
— ACLU (@ACLU) June 8, 2021
Asylum seekers can apply for asylum upon arriving at a port of entry or within one year of arriving in the states, according to 8 USC 1158. Applicants then must present a credible fears claim in which they’re required to prove they fear they suffer persecution in their home country for any one of the following reasons: race, religion, nationality, membership to a particular social group or political opinion.
Migrants must present their credible fear claim to an asylum officer, who will then refer the migrant to an immigration judge if the claim appears valid. Migrants then have the burden of proof to establish their eligibility for asylum before a judge.
For individuals who do not meet the criteria for asylum when reviewed by an asylum officer, a petition to an immigration judge can be made. Otherwise, migrants will be deported. (RELATED: ‘We’ve Been To The Border,’ Harris Says, Then Immediately Admits She Hasn’t Been To The Border)
In 2009 there were 35,811 asylum claims processed in the U.S., and only 8,384 were granted, The Associated Press (AP) reported.
In the fiscal year 2016, 11,729 asylum applications were approved out of 115,399 affirmative asylum applications filed, according to the National Immigration Forum. An affirmative asylum case regards migrants who are physically present in the U.S., regardless of how they entered the country within one year of arrival.
By 2018, the number of applications jumped to 162,060 claims filed and only 13,168 were granted, according to AP.
Approximately 20-30% of asylum claims are granted each year since 2009, data from the Department of Justice shows. Not all of the remaining cases are flat out denied, however. Some individuals who have credible fears claim just don’t end up submitting an application for asylum while other are closed for administrative purposes, according to PolitiFact.
For example, less than four percent of migrants from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras said they were exclusively fleeing violence in 2017 while 72 percent cited economic conditions as their sole reason for leaving, according to a survey of deported migrants by the Migration in the Southern Border of Mexico. Only 10 percent cited both violence and economic conditions as their reasons.
“The vast majority of current Central American asylum seekers – by their own admission – are economic migrants who do not qualify for asylum, because they are not subject to persecution on the basis of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group,” Federation for American Immigration Reform research director Matt O’Brien told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
While asylum is legal, as Ocasio-Cortez and the ACLU made clear, only a small percentage of claims are actually granted.