Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs House Republicans introduced a bill Thursday aimed at barring immigrants from being granted asylum in the United States if they have criminal histories.The No Asylum for Criminals Act was introduced by newly elected North Carolina Representative Mark Harris, who said that the U.S. asylum system had been abused in recent years and allowed “foreign criminals” into the country.”Asylum should be reserved for individuals who need it because of persecution—not granted to violent criminals,” Harris said Thursday in a press release. “After the Biden administration abused the law to intentionally let illegal aliens in our country, it’s clear we need to strengthen asylum law.”Allowing convicted felons to enter the U.S. not only risks the safety of American citizens, but it also risks the safety of other asylum seekers and adds to the backlog of claims. That’s why I introduced the No Asylum for Criminals Act to end the abuse of our asylum laws and restore integrity of our immigration system. We must send a clear message: America is not a refuge for the world’s violent criminals.”
Migrants are processed by Border Patrol San Diego sector agents as seen from Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico, on January 20, 2025.
Migrants are processed by Border Patrol San Diego sector agents as seen from Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico, on January 20, 2025.
GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP via Getty Images
GOP Seeking To Deliver On Trump’s PromisesIt is the latest immigration-related bill introduced in recent weeks after the GOP took control of both chambers of Congress and its members are seeking to deliver on promises made by President Donald Trump that he would tackle illegal immigration on his return to office, including removing immigrants who have committed serious or violent crimes.Those promises have proved popular among voters, in particular the want for violent criminals to be deported. Polling has also shown that voters want to see improved pathways to legal status for immigrants.Who Is Eligible For Asylum?Current U.S. law allows immigrants arriving at official border crossings, or who have crossed into the country within the past year, to claim asylum, but protections are not automatically given. Instead, immigrants are usually placed in expedited removal proceedings, meaning they are held by U.S. officials and could be sent back across the border.Immigration officers then interview asylum-seeking immigrants, who have to show they have either faced persecution or could be subjected to it if they return to their home country. Reasons for that could be for their political or religious beliefs, or membership of a particular social group, and it’s down to the officer’s discretion as to whether the applicant has shown a credible fear level.Under U.S. immigration law, anyone who has been convicted of a felony or serious crime is seen as a threat to the U.S. or has persecuted others is barred from being granted asylum. Failing to apply within 12 months of entering the country is also grounds for a failed application.Currently, asylum seekers who committed crimes seen as political in nature—i.e. toward an oppressive regime—could be granted asylum, as could those guilty of misdemeanors. It is this second allowance that the No Asylum for Criminals Act would more directly impact.
U.S. Border Patrol agents watch over immigrants next to the U.S.-Mexico border fence before transporting them for processing on January 19, 2025 near Sasabe, Arizona.
U.S. Border Patrol agents watch over immigrants next to the U.S.-Mexico border fence before transporting them for processing on January 19, 2025 near Sasabe, Arizona.
John Moore/Getty Images
What Would No Asylum For Criminals Act Change?Harris said that his bill would make it so that those convicted of a crime in a foreign country would be prohibited from gaining asylum.Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) often publicizes when it catches illegal immigrants wanted for violent crimes in other countries, and many entered the U.S. at an unknown date or location, meaning they likely crossed the border illegally without detection and would not have applied for asylum.The bill’s text calls for amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act, so that it states that both felony convictions and crimes which count as misdemeanors would be reasons for cases to be denied.”This bill would expand that exclusion dramatically to include practically any minor criminal offense, even coming to a rolling stop at a stop sign, which is a misdemeanor,” Michael Kagan, director of the University of Nevada Las Vegas Immigration Clinic, told Newsweek.”It is important to remember that asylum is one of several statuses for people in danger of human rights abuses abroad. Asylum is the best of those statuses, so this is very important.”How Many People Are Granted Asylum?As border crossings spiked during the Biden administration, so did asylum applications from those entering the country illegally—241,280 applications were received in 2022, compared to 456,750 in 2023, the most recent year available from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).In 2023, 54,350 cases were approved, with 68 percent of cases due to applicants fearing persecution for their political beliefs, followed by smaller shares for social groups and religious beliefs. Venezuelans and Cubans made up the highest share of those applying.Not all cases approved in 2023, or any year, will have been filed that same year. Data from 2023 showed cases that had been waiting for about a decade to be decided, with applicants left in limbo either in detention or without legal status in any country. The DHS said in its 2023 report that the majority of cases filed between 2016 and 2017, and 2020 to 2023, were still pending.
Immigrants from India walk next to the U.S.-Mexico border fence after crossing into Arizona on January 19, 2025, near Sasabe.
Immigrants from India walk next to the U.S.-Mexico border fence after crossing into Arizona on January 19, 2025, near Sasabe.
John Moore/Getty Images
The bill introduced in the House did not appear to address the backlog of cases or the processes involved in determining or vetting applications, although provisions may be added as the bill moves through Congress.Asylum has effectively ground to a halt in the past nine months, following an order by President Joe Biden, who set a daily crossing cap that closed applications in June 2024.Trump then reinstated his Remain in Mexico program on January 20, forcing applicants to wait there while their case is processed in the U.S. He also scrapped the Biden-era CBP One app, which allowed immigrants to book appointments at the southwest border, while humanitarian parole programs, which also allowed immigrants from select countries to enter the U.S. after screening at home, were also shuttered.
