Several Republican members of Congress plan to introduce bills to change asylum laws to close loopholes used by the growing number of illegal immigrants in the country.

“We’re never going to stop this by just having walls and troops at the border,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in an April 14 Fox News interview. “We have to change our laws so these people stop coming.”

Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he’ll “put together a legislative package” right after the lawmakers return from a two-week recess on April 29. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, discussed a similar proposal in recent media interviews.
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Since the influx began to intensify in 2012, more than 1.4 million of people from these three countries were caught at the southern border after crossing illegally, with half a million of those having been caught in the past 18 months. About two-thirds of them were children or adults with children.

The migrants usually cross the border illegally, then surrender to authorities and request asylum. For various reasons, they are often released into the interior of the United States to await an immigration court proceeding that usually takes years. While most of their asylum claims ultimately fail, it may take years for them to be tracked down and deported.

Border security officials have specified three changes to the law they would need to rectify the system.

First, the standard for the initial evaluation of an asylum claim needs to be raised. The current test consists of questioning the migrant on whether he or she has “credible fear” of death or persecution in the country of origin based on religion, political views, sex, or ethnicity.

But human smugglers, and even lawyers working for certain non-profits, are instructing the migrants on what to say in order to pass the test.
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Another problem is the 1997 Flores v. Reno settlement and several subsequent court decisions which, among other restrictions, prevent authorities from detaining child illegal aliens beyond 20 days. Since their cases can’t be adjudicated this fast, the children are released with a family member or other guardian. If the children came as a part of a family unit, the whole family gets released.

“The word is out on the street in these countries that if you bring a minor child with you, you’re never going to get deported,” Graham said.

The solution would be to allow the government to detain families somewhat longer, 4–8 weeks, which would give the government enough time to push their cases through the courts, according to acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan.
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Lastly, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 needs to change to allow repatriation of children to countries that don’t share a border with the United States, which the law prohibited due to human trafficking concerns.

“For unaccompanied children, we have government partners in the Northern Triangle—El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras—who are ready to take children back and handle that humanely,” McAleenan said. “Those are their citizens they believe they have a responsibility for and we’re not allowed to do that under the law, under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.”
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https://www.theepochtimes.com/congress-gop-wants-to-tweak-asylum-laws-to-stop-migrant-influx_2880854.html