The Biden-Harris administration has been faced with an unprecedented surge in asylum applications, with nearly a million individuals seeking refuge in the United States in the fiscal year 2023.
This influx, which has been the highest in the nation's history, coincides with the administration's tenure marked by a significant increase in illegal border crossings.
According to The Post Millennial, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported a record-breaking total of 945,370 asylum applications. The DHS data revealed a near doubling of both affirmative and defensive asylum cases under the current administration. Affirmative asylum applicants initiate their case with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, while defensive asylum seekers apply for asylum through an immigration judge to prevent or delay their deportation, as explained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
In the fiscal year 2023, the number of affirmative asylum applications reached a record high of 456,750, nearly twice the previous year's figure. Defensive applications followed a similar trend, with 488,620 cases, almost double the 260,830 cases from the fiscal year 2022.
The Biden-Harris administration's immigration policies have been characterized by a significant increase in refugee admissions, with 100,000 refugees allowed into the country in the fiscal year 2023. The administration plans to admit an additional 25,000 in the next fiscal year. Critics argue that the administration has been lax in deporting criminal illegal immigrants, with deportations decreasing by 74 percent since Biden assumed office.
Former President Donald Trump has been vocal in his criticism of the current administration's immigration policies. He accused the Biden-Harris administration of maintaining an open border policy, which he claims has allowed tens of millions of illegal immigrants, including 13,000 convicted murderers and 435,000 individuals with criminal records, to enter the country without fear of legal consequences.
The DHS report also highlighted a shift in the nationalities of asylum seekers under the Biden administration. The number of cases from Venezuela, for instance, has increased dramatically from 15,000 in the fiscal year 2021 to 173,190 in the fiscal year 2023. Other countries such as Cuba, Nicaragua, and Haiti have also seen a significant rise in approved asylum claims.
These four countries are part of the administration's Cuba-Haiti-Nicaragua-Venezuela (CHNV) parole program, which has been criticized by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and other senators. They argue that the program is fraught with fraud and facilitates trafficking and violent crime, including "sexual assault, rape, and murder. In a letter sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in September, the senators called for the immediate termination of the CHNV Parole Program, describing it as ineffective, unlawful, and hazardous.
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