President Donald Trump issued a presidential memorandum directing the attorney general and the secretary of homeland security to propose regulations to, according to the President, “strengthen asylum procedures to safeguard our system against rampant abuse of our asylum process.”
The memo, issued on April 29, 2019, gives the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security 90 days to propose regulations that would do the following:
- Clarify which laws apply to asylum applicants in different circumstances
- Ensure that all asylum applications, excluding appeals, receive final adjudication within 180 days
- Set an application fee that does not exceed the costs of asylum adjudication
- Set an application fee for initial employment authorization while the asylum claim is pending
- Prevent people who have entered, or attempted to enter, the U.S. unlawfully from receiving employment authorization
- Ensure immediate revocation of employment authorization for applicants denied asylum or under a final order of removal
The memo also directs the secretary of homeland security to prioritize adjudicating asylum claims and enforcing immigration laws when making staff assignments.
You can read more about adjudication and presidential memoranda here:
Additional reading:
Trump’s Memo: