Appearing before a fiery group of House Democrats on Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen defended federal law enforcement’s new practice of “metering” asylum seekers at ports of entry between the U.S. and Mexico.
Nielsen testified to House Homeland Security Committee members no migrant was technically being denied the ability to claim credible fear at a border crossing, just that they were being delayed in doing so because Customs and Border Protection officers only allow so many to apply per day.
“All asylum seekers have the opportunity to present their case. We’re not turning anybody around,” Nielsen said. “What we are doing is exercising the statutory authority that enables us to, in conjunction with Mexico, to return to Mexico migrants who have arrived from that country, to await processing.”
The secretary said “lists” are floating around on the Mexican side of the border that migrants started as a way to keep track of who is up next to cross the bridge and manage the “queue.”
[Also read: February marked 12-year-high for illegal immigration: 76,000 encountered at southern border]
Any migrant who wants to apply for asylum must first get on the list for that specific port, wait his or her turn, and can only then go to a port of entry to claim a credible fear of returning home, which if approved leads to applying for asylum, before Customs and Border Protection officers.
“When you’ve seen the facilities, they’re built for maybe 100 people a day, they’re just not adequate to process that large numbers of people,” she said.
Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., condemned Nielsen when she said she did not have a copy of the unspecified number of lists floating around northern border towns in Mexico.
“You have authority to do the list, but you don’t have access to the list?” Barragan yelled, though the list is not a DHS document.
Barragan then scolded Nielsen for CBP’s not having a copy of the lists.
“How do you know? You’re not giving me the chance [to respond],” said Nielsen.
Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, D-N.M., said the “metering” has led to some migrants to instead cross illegally between official entry points. Although it is a misdemeanor to illegally cross into the U.S., those who do so then claim a credible fear of returning home will not be prosecuted. Those traveling with children are also not prosecuted for entering without inspection.
Nielsen said migrants’ illegally crossing between entry points is one of the reasons law enforcement on the border supports more barrier. More fence would prevent people from entering and being apprehended in remote areas where, just like CBP facilities, Border Patrol stations lack the resources to care for so many people until they can be transferred to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
