A former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement torched the Biden administration's new proposed asylum policy for containing "so many exceptions to the rule that the exception is going to swallow the rule," Fox News Digital reported.
Earlier this week, the Biden administration's Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice issued a joint Notice of Proposed Rulemaking "designed to address the current and anticipated surge in migration."Former acting director of ICE Thomas Homan told the news outlet that the proposed rule, "Circumvention of Lawful Pathways," appears to be similar to the Trump-era "Remain in Mexico" policy; however, unlike former President Trump's rule, the Biden administration's policy includes several exceptions.
The Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" order allowed individuals to request asylum, but migrants were required to wait in Mexico until their scheduled immigration court date.
If implemented, Biden's proposed policy would make migrants ineligible to claim asylum if they passed through other countries to get to the United States but failed to first seek asylum elsewhere. The administration proposed the policy to prepare for the anticipated influx of migrant encounters when the Title 42 Public Health Order ends in May.
Former acting director of ICE Thomas Homan told the news outlet that the proposed rule, "Circumvention of Lawful Pathways," appears to be similar to the Trump-era "Remain in Mexico" policy; however, unlike former President Trump's rule, the Biden administration's policy includes several exceptions.
The Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" order allowed individuals to request asylum, but migrants were required to wait in Mexico until their scheduled immigration court date.
If implemented, Biden's proposed policy would make migrants ineligible to claim asylum if they passed through other countries to get to the United States but failed to first seek asylum elsewhere. The administration proposed the policy to prepare for the anticipated influx of migrant encounters when the Title 42 Public Health Order ends in May.
Homan told Fox News Digital that he agrees that asylum-seekers should be required to first seek refuge in countries they travel through before getting to the United States.
"I do think when someone claims asylum, and let's say that they claim asylum from Honduras, because they have a fear of persecution from their home government — that's what asylum is," Homan stated.
"So they get to Mexico," he continued. "Have they not escaped that fear of persecution from their own government? Of course. They should claim asylum in the first free country they come to. I believe in that."
Homan accused Biden's proposal of being "smoke and mirrors again."
"They're going to establish rules, but there are so many exceptions to the rule that the exception is going to swallow the rule," Homan claimed.
