The Biden administration is moving to resolve asylum cases more quickly in five major U.S. cities -- as it continues to face heat from mayors and local officials over the effects of the ongoing crisis at the southern border. The Departments of Justice and Homeland Security announced a 'Recent Arrivals Docket process' which it says will allow them to resolve cases of illegal immigrant single adults more quickly.
The docket will operate in five cities: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City, and the aim will be to prioritize cases and aim to decide cases within six months, although specific circumstances could change that. The administration says the new process will help, but that ultimately it needs funding and fixes for a 'broken' system from Congress.
Today, we are instituting with the Department of Justice a process to accelerate asylum proceedings so that individuals who do not qualify for relief can be removed more quickly and those who do qualify can achieve protection sooner,' DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
Mayorkas on Friday acknowledged that 'several million' migrants had come into the U.S. under the Biden administration, but blamed it on hemispheric conditions and that broken system. Adams, meanwhile, caused controversy last week by calling for migrants to be allowed to work as lifeguards, saying that some are 'excellent swimmers.' His office noted that there have been more than 197,000 arrivals since 2022 and said that 'there is nothing more un-American than not allowing someone to work.'