The Departments of Justice and Homeland Security
announced yesterday that they have submitted to the Federal Register a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (
full text) that
will create more efficient procedures for the adjudication of claims for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) regulations.
Among the bases for asylum are a "well-founded fear of persecution on account of ... religion [or] membership
in a particular social group...." The proposed rule changes would (among other things):
Amend the regulations governing credible fear determinations so that individuals found to have such a fear will have their claims for asylum, withholding of removal, or protection under the CAT adjudicated by an immigration judge in streamlined proceedings, rather than in immigration court proceedings conducted under section 240 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)...
Raise the burden of proof for the threshold screening of withholding and CAT protection claims from “significant possibility” to a “reasonable possibility” standard...
