This Issue: New asylum rule more about optics, less about reducing illegal entries

Fri, Feb. 24^th

Recent headlines are labeling the Biden Administration's new proposed rule to block asylum for illegal aliens as "Trump 2.0." But as NumbersUSA's Legal Analyst Jared Culver wrote, "it's all smoke and little fire."

The proposed rule announced earlier this week is the administration's response to winding down Title 42 -- the Trump-era policy from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that prohibits some illegal border crossers from claiming asylum due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the surface, the rule states that anyone who shows up at the border or a port of entry without a visa will be ineligible for asylum. But the details include a laundry list of exemptions that pretty much covers anyone who comes to the U.S. illegally.

Here are just a few of those exemptions:

Anyone who schedules an appointment through the CBP One smartphone app
Anyone who is unable to use the CBP One app
Unaccompanied alien children
Anyone who travelled through a country where they couldn't apply for or were denied asylum
All immediate family members of individuals who meet one of the other exemptions

The Biden Administration is aware of the polling numbers on immigration. It knows that Americans are dissatisfied with the administration's handling of the border crisis based on the endless stream of images and video of large groups crossing the border illegally.

The proposed rule is nothing more than an effort by Biden officials to remove the optics of the border crisis and to create a more orderly process for the millions of foreign citizens who want to come to the United States illegally.

In the coming weeks, we'll be asking our NumbersUSA activists to enter comments of opposition to the proposed rule on the Federal Register.

DeSANTIS ANNOUNCES E-VERIFY PUSH

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced yesterday morning that he'll be pushing for mandatory E-Verify for all businesses in the Sunshine State during the upcoming legislative session that starts on March 7.

Florida currently requires E-Verify for state agencies and contractors and, notably, advertises the state's enrollment in E-Verify on its "Welcome to Florida" highway signs.

DeSantis is pushing for legislation that would revoke business licenses after a second offense and makes it a felony to use fraudulent documents for employment.

For our Florida activists, we've posted a thank you message for Gov. DeSantis on your Action Board, and we'll be asking you to contact your elected officials over the next few months.

ChRIS CHMIELENSKI

Town Hall: NumbersUSA CEO James Massa commented on the increasing number of Chinese nationals caught entering the country illegally.

"I just came back from Texas where a Salvation Army representative was asking me if I knew why last month nearly a 100 Syrian nationals and immigrants from other southern African nations were dropped at their doorsteps in Abeline, Texas by the Biden administration. Unlike those Hispanics traveling to the U.S. southern border over land, for these non-Hispanic immigrants the better questions are, 'How did these Chinese, Syrian, or other nationals from continents across an ocean get to our southern border? Who is sponsoring and paying for their very expensive travel?'" Massa said.

"Credibility in immigration policy can be summed up in one sentence: those who should get in, get in; those who should be kept out, are kept out; and those who should not be here will be required to leave."
--Barbara Jordan (1936-1996)

February is Black History Month. Sadly, one of our nation's Civil Rights pioneers and revered public servants will receive scant attention. Why? Because the culmination of her professional life was chairing a presidential commission that rejected amnesty and recommended significant cuts to annul immigration admissions.

You will find the story of her extraordinary life and the commission's reports on the NumbersUSA website.

New Proposed Asylum Rule is All Smoke, Little Fire

Jared Culver

Fri, Feb. 24^th

You may have heard from some circles that the Biden Administration is proposing to ban asylum and that it is an example of President Biden adopting policies of former President Donald Trump. These critics either have not read the proposed rule or believe even attempting bureaucratic virtue signaling to deter migrant flows at the border is forbidden.

As official unemployment drops, job prospects for Americans diminish

Eric Ruark

Fri, Feb. 23^rd

The official unemployment rate continues to drop, but job prospects for Americans diminish with the ongoing surge of foreign workers into the U.S.

More Allegations of Abuse in H-2A Visa Program

Jared Culver

Fri, Feb. 24^th

Second verse, same as the first. H-2A agricultural workers from Mexico are suing their domestic employers for unpaid wages. Allegations include failure to reimburse for the costs of obtaining their visas (as had been promised), the promised wage rate in their contract not matching what they were actually paid, and failure to pay overtime.

What January's Falling Border Encounters Total Really Means

Fri, Feb. 21^st

The White House was quick to champion the 'drastic fall' in alien apprehensions at the southwest U.S. border during January, continuing to gloss over historical monthly norms while doing whatever they could to hide the true scope of the Biden Border Crisis.

Americans are dissatisfied with immigration levels

Jeremy Beck

Fri, Feb. 21^st

The low-wage immigration strategy isn't paying off for the majority of Americans. Meanwhile, the border crisis continues, despite efforts to make it less visible to the public.