New Directive On Credible Fear Interviews Subverts Due Process

Washington, D.C.—In response to reports of a new directive from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli that would allow asylum officers to conduct credible fear interviews 24 hours after asylum seekers arrive in the United States, down from 48, Human Rights First’s Eleanor Acer issued the following statement:

Allowing people seeking protection in the United States two days to recuperate from their journeys and potentially confer with counsel before a legal interview that could decide their fates the fates of their families is not causing a bottleneck, it is allowing for due process. Cutting that time in half not only subverts the law, it subverts decency. This move is clearly aimed at preventing people seeking asylum from conferring with attorneys—something we know dramatically increases a refugee’s chance of winning asylum. Sadly, this is just the latest effort by the Trump Administration to rig the system against asylum seekers and to completely undermine U.S. refugee protections.