The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom yesterday
released a report titled
Barriers to Protection: The Treatment of Asylum Seekers in Expedited Removal. The report is a follow-up to one issued in 2005, and says:
The research revealed that, although DHS had taken some measures in response to the 2005 study, there were continuing and new concerns about the processing and detention of asylum seekers in Expedited Removal, and most of USCIRF’s 2005 recommendations had not been implemented.
The Report focuses on refugee processing generally, and not specifically on those who claim refugee status based on religious persecution. However the Report gives this example of problems faced by those claiming religious persecution:
A [Border Patrol] supervisor ... expressed skepticism about Chinese claims of religious persecution, telling USCIRF that Chinese individuals often say they are Christian but cannot even name the church they attend; when USCIRF informed him that many Chinese Christians worship in homes, not churches, he seemed surprised.
