House Judiciary Committee to Hold Hearing on Asylum Abuse

Washington, D.C. – The House Judiciary Committee today announced that it will hold a hearing on our nation’s asylum laws by the end of the year.  According to an internal Customs and Border Protection document obtained by the House Judiciary Committee, and as reported by the Washington Times today, many people claiming a “credible fear” of persecution at our ports of entry have a direct or indirect association with drug trafficking and other illegal activity such as human smuggling. Since there are intelligence gaps and loopholes in the system, the asylum process – which was designed to help innocent victims of persecution – is being abused by individuals who would otherwise be subjects of interest or subjects of criminal investigations. Once these unscrupulous individuals falsely claim a “credible fear” of persecution, there is virtually no investigation by U.S. authorities. Because the Obama Administration refuses to detain most of them, criminals and those who pose national security threats are then able to live and work in the U.S. for many years before their cases are ever heard by immigration judges.

Below is a joint statement from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), and Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), a fellow Judiciary Committee member who is also chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, on this upcoming hearing.

“It’s outrageous that members of Mexican drug cartels and others involved in illicit activity are so easily able to exploit our asylum laws and live in the U.S. virtually undetected.  Our asylum laws are in place to help individuals who are facing truly serious persecution in their countries.  However, dangerous criminals are gaming the system by claiming they have a ‘credible fear’ of persecution when often they’ve been the perpetrators of violence themselves. Their claims almost always get rubberstamped by the Obama Administration and once these individuals are in the U.S., the illegal activity doesn’t stop.
 
“Unfortunately, it appears the Obama Administration is compromising our national security and the safety of our communities for its political agenda. The House Judiciary Committee plans to hold a hearing soon to closely examine this egregious abuse to see what can be done to put an end to it.”
 
Below are some examples cited in the document obtained by the House Judiciary Committee:

• Two families involved in drug trafficking came to the U.S. claiming "credible fear" of persecution, then began targeting each other once they were here.
• Two women made a claim of asylum and three months later were apprehended at a Border Patrol checkpoint with more than $1 million in cocaine.
• Cartel hit-squad members came to the U.S. after they "fell out of grace" with their employers.
• An ex-Mexican military soldier and his family claimed "credible fear" and settled in Colorado. When U.S. authorities followed up on them, they were linked to an open investigation involving the seizure of 3,000 pounds of marijuana.