{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/s3372-115/featured_asylum-abuse-reduction-act-1546050257.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/s3372-115/featured_large_asylum-abuse-reduction-act-1546050257.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/s3372-115.png"},"introduced_on":"2018-08-23","title_override":"Should Asylum Seekers Undergo 'Credible Fear' Screenings Before Entering the U.S.?","summary_override":"

This bill, the Asylum Abuse Reduction Act, would require asylum officers at U.S. embassies and consulates to conduct credible fear screenings before admitting unauthorized immigrants entering from Canada or Mexico who are seeking asylum into the United States. Under this process, immigration officers wouldn’t be able to admit unauthorized immigrants into the U.S., and would instead have to instruct them to schedule an asylum hearing with the most convenient U.S. embassy in Canada or Mexico. During these hearings, asylum officers would conduct in-person interviews to determine whether the unauthorized immigrant meets the requirements to be granted asylum in the U.S. Unauthorized immigrants could be granted asylum if they: Had been persecuted in their country of origin on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion; or would be subject to torture if they returned to their country of origin.

Failure to show up for immigration court would result in a bench warrant for an unauthorized immigrant’s arrest.

This bill would also make the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS Secretary) responsible for establishing an alternatives to detention pilot program. Under such a program, unauthorized immigrants could be released into the supervision of qualified organizations with federal government contracts to facilitate their compliance with all stages of their immigration proceedings.

Unauthorized immigrants could only participate in the pilot program if they:

Certify that they will comply with all stages of the immigration proceedings, including removal, if ordered;
Acknowledge that they are only entitled to a single appeal of an immigration judge’s decision; and
Sign a privacy waiver.

Unauthorized immigrants who fail to comply with the requirements of the pilot program could be subject to arrest, detention, and expedited removal proceedings.

The DHS Secretary, in consultation with the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), would be responsible for developing performance metrics for organizations that run pilot programs. These metrics would include rates of absconsion, arrest, completion of immigration cases, and any other metrics that the Secretary determines measure compliance with performance standards. If an organization running a pilot program failed to comply with performance standards, the DHS Secretary could require it to return funds paid to it during the noncompliance period, terminate its contract, or impose any other penalty authorized by the contract.

Finally, the DHS Secretary would submit a report to to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives on the implementation of the alternatives to detention pilot program.

","official_title":"A bill to require asylum officers to conduct credible fear screenings before admitting aliens seeking asylum into the United States, to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish an alternatives to detention pilot program, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Asylum Abuse Reduction Act","popular_title":null,"short_summary":null,"summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate for this bill is unavailable.","impact":"U.S. asylum officers; Department of Homeland Security; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives; Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives; Secretary of Homeland Security; and Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.","argument_for":"The volume of asylum-seekers applying for refuge in the U.S. is currently overwhelming the courts, creating a risk of unqualified claims being approved. The U.S. should protect itself from false asylum claims so as not to overwhelm our domestic social services and only allow those with legitimate credible fear claims to stay.","argument_against":"The number of false asylum applications is small, and the increase in asylum-seekers in recent years is directly attributable to crises both globally and in Central America. Rather than turning away asylum-seekers, the U.S. should seek to help those who have credible fears of returning home to violence and worse.","bill_type":"s","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"s3372-115","bill_id":"s3372-115","formal_id":"S. 3372","chamber":"senate","congress":115,"last_action_at":"2018-08-23T00:00:00.000Z","active":false,"enacted":false,"enacted_at":null,"vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":null,"debated_on":null,"congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th/senate-bill/3372","plain_text_url":"https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-115s3372is/html/BILLS-115s3372is.htm","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/s3372-115.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th/senate-bill/3372/text","is_current_congress":false,"last_version_on":"2018-08-23","related_bill_ids":[],"progress":"Introduced","house_passage_result":false,"senate_passage_result":false,"position_count":545,"committees":[{"name":"Committee on the Judiciary","chamber":"senate","committee_id":"SSJU","subcommittee":false}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=s3372-115","details":"/api/bills/s3372-115/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/s3372-115","positionsFor":"/api/bills/s3372-115/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/s3372-115/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":0,"slug":"s3372-115-asylum-abuse-reduction-act","latest_chamber_votes_id":null,"official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":3077,"yea_vote_count":1188,"nay_vote_count":1878,"passed_house":false,"passed_senate":false,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":["immigration"],"issue_ids":["human-rights","immigration","refugee-crisis"],"sponsor_id":574}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"human-rights","name":"Human Rights","slug":"human-rights","description":"The protection of human rights is among the core values of the United States. Tell your congressperson how you feel about current legislation related to the U.S.'s efforts to protect human rights!","page_title":"Human Rights Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/human-rights/black_human-rights-1429042059.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/human-rights/grey_human-rights-1429042059.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/human-rights/white_human-rights-1429042059.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"immigration","name":"Immigration","slug":"immigration","description":"Whether you want to refer to the U.S. as a cultural melting pot or a cultural mosaic, immigrants make up a substantial portion of the country. Tell your congressperson how you feel about current legislation related to immigration!","page_title":"Immigration Bills on Countable - Vote on Legislation, Stay informed, Hold Government Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/immigration/black_immigration-1429042063.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/immigration/grey_immigration-1429042063.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/immigration/white_immigration-1429042063.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"refugee-crisis","name":"Refugee Crisis","slug":"refugee-crisis","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Refugee Crisis. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. \r\n","page_title":"Refugee Crisis Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/refugee-crisis/black_refugee-crisis-1454595567.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/refugee-crisis/grey_refugee-crisis-1454595567.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/refugee-crisis/white_refugee-crisis-1454595567.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false}],"users":[{"name":"Nina","vote_count":234,"photos":{"large":"https://graph.facebook.com/10210536528281756/picture?width=150&height=150","small":"https://graph.facebook.com/10210536528281756/picture?width=75&height=75","tiny":"https://graph.facebook.com/10210536528281756/picture?width=20&height=20","facebook":"https://graph.facebook.com/10210536528281756/picture"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/NZa0g7RW/following","followers":"/api/users/NZa0g7RW/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":0,"is_following":null,"influence_score":195,"influence_level":20,"follower_count":4,"following_count":1,"position_count":47,"id":"NZa0g7RW","partner_id":null},{"name":"Glowurm","vote_count":442,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-with-flags.png","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-with-flags.png","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-with-flags.png"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/ZBexoxrX/following","followers":"/api/users/ZBexoxrX/followers"},"about_me":"","twitter_id":"","facebook_id":"","youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":"","slug":"glowurm","issue_count":2,"is_following":null,"influence_score":4290,"influence_level":30,"follower_count":161,"following_count":269,"position_count":438,"id":"ZBexoxrX","partner_id":null},{"name":"Jann","vote_count":497,"photos":{"large":"https://graph.facebook.com/10155541484846783/picture?width=150&height=150","small":"https://graph.facebook.com/10155541484846783/picture?width=75&height=75","tiny":"https://graph.facebook.com/10155541484846783/picture?width=20&height=20","facebook":"https://graph.facebook.com/10155541484846783/picture"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/0Z7133o9/following","followers":"/api/users/0Z7133o9/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":18,"is_following":null,"influence_score":770,"influence_level":30,"follower_count":23,"following_count":6,"position_count":432,"id":"0Z7133o9","partner_id":null}],"bill_position":{"flagged":false,"id":"e2446652-37f3-4eac-aa62-c286bdda5b32","argument_for":null,"argument_against":null,"show_argument_for":false,"show_argument_against":false,"upvote_count":2,"upvotes_for_count":null,"upvotes_against_count":null,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":2,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/e2446652-37f3-4eac-aa62-c286bdda5b32"},"body":"And what are they suggesting for a credible test, waterboarding? Among the qualifiers I didn't see any mention of escaping human traffickers...how many embassy employees are psychiatrists trained to apply any psychological tests? And, Canada is among those considered dangerous? ","stance":"impartial","created_at":"2018-12-29T19:52:43.769Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/e2446652-37f3-4eac-aa62-c286bdda5b32.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"s3372-115","user_id":"NZa0g7RW","endorser_ids":["ZBexoxrX","0Z7133o9"]}}

Like Causes?

Nina

Should Asylum Seekers Undergo 'Credible Fear' Screenings Before Entering the U.S.?