TESTIMONY OF

Andrew Davidson

Acting Deputy Director

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

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Introduction

Chair Sinema, Ranking Member Lankford, Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the

opportunity to appear before you today, together with my colleagues from U.S. Customs and

Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to discuss how

Background

USCIS administers the nation’s lawful immigration system, including the adjudication of

affirmative asylum claims and applications for refugee status. USCIS employees work shoulder-

to-shoulder with their ICE and CBP colleagues—from conducting protection screening

interviews at DHS facilities to coordinating on national security and public safety issues. USCIS

has a proud history of providing immigration benefits to eligible individuals from all over the

world. These benefits support the fundamental values and needs of our nation, be they economic,

humanitarian, or otherwise in the public interest. USCIS delivers these benefits while being ever

vigilant for those who seek to undermine the integrity of our immigration system—or worse,

For more than a decade, the steadily rising influx of migrants across the Southwest Border has

resulted in significant increases in apprehensions and the number of noncitizens placed into the

expedited removal process. USCIS screens individuals for credible fear in some situations as part

of the expedited removal process and plays an important role in ensuring that potential asylees or

victims of torture are not improperly returned to their home countries in contravention of our

laws and those who are found ineligible are expeditiously removed. Our specially trained asylum

officers conduct screening interviews for noncitizens who express a fear of return or otherwise

express a fear of persecution or torture or indicate an intention to apply for asylum during the

expedited removal process. The screening interview is conducted in order to determine whether

the noncitizen has a credible fear of persecution or torture. Noncitizens who meet the credible

of credible fear referrals to USCIS has climbed sharply as well. Approximately 35,000 detained

credible fear cases were referred to USCIS in Fiscal Year (FY) 2013; USCIS has seen the

number of detained credible fear cases referred more than triple to approximately 107,000 so far

in FY 2023 as of August 11, 2023. About 51,000 of those cases have been received since May

12, 2023, after the expiration of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Title 42 public

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health order and the return to processing all noncitizens under longstanding Title 8 immigration

authorities. USCIS has pursued a number of strategies to address this increased caseload,

including:

• Significantly expanding asylum officer staffing from 283 authorized positions in FY 2013

to 1,128 authorized positions in FY 2023;

• Maintaining remote interview and adjudication capability that enables asylum officers to

process credible fear cases from any location;

conducting credible fear screening, 275 of whom are currently engaged in specialized

training scheduled to conclude on September 6, 2023, at which time they will join the

force of credible fear-trained personnel.

Our ability to process credible fear claims in a timely manner saves valuable DHS detention

resources and enables the entire expedited removal process to operate more efficiently. USCIS

remains strongly committed to supporting the government-wide response to the migration flows

on the Southwest Border, including ensuring those who seek protection are provided the

opportunity to have those protection claims heard.

research professional to monitor trends and conduct specialized analysis. USCIS continues to

lead an interagency asylum fraud working group with partners from ICE’s Homeland Security

Investigations, CBP, Department of Justice, and Department of State. In recent years, USCIS has

supported multiple successful criminal prosecutions and convictions involving asylum fraud,

further demonstrating the Department’s commitment to ensuring the overall integrity of the

immigration system.

Post-Title 42 Order Processing

Over the past few months, DHS has implemented new measures to humanely manage the

fear processes and reallocated staffing resources so that hundreds of additional personnel were

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available to process credible fear interviews. Additionally, certain noncitizen populations are

now processed for expedited removal while they are in CBP or ICE facilities within days or just

a few weeks after they were encountered. Through these measures, DHS is able to provide relief

more quickly to those who are eligible and remove those who are not. Through these measures,

DHS is able to provide relief more quickly to those who are eligible and remove those who are

certain noncitizens’ application for asylum and scheduling the noncitizen for a second interview,

known as an Asylum Merits Interview, to determine whether the noncitizen is eligible for

asylum. If the credible fear determination is negative, the noncitizen may request review of the

decision by an immigration judge. If the noncitizen does not elect to have their determination

reviewed or if the immigration judge affirms the asylum officer’s decision, the noncitizen is

subject to expedited removal and ultimately removed. If the immigration judge vacates the

asylum officer’s decision, the noncitizen may proceed either before USCIS or in removal

proceedings before an immigration judge with their asylum application. If an NTA is issued and

the noncitizen is placed in removal proceedings, the immigration court will make the final

determination on the noncitizen’s eligibility for asylum, withholding of removal, or other relief.

to Mexico in order to retain their ability to apply for these parole processes. If the noncitizen

states they would like to withdraw their application for admission, the asylum officer stops the

interview, administratively closes the case, and informs CBP of the noncitizen’s request. If the

noncitizen decides to not withdraw their application for admission, the asylum officer continues

with the credible fear screening.

Processing under the Circumvention of Lawful Pathways Rule

On May 12, 2023, the Circumvention of Lawful Pathways (CLP) rule took effect. This rule

encourages migrants to use lawful, safe, and orderly processes and pathways to enter the United

habitual residents of Mexico also are not subject to the CLP rule, as the rule requires travel

through a third country for the presumption of ineligibility to apply.

The CLP rule provides exceptions for a noncitizen from the presumption of asylum ineligibility

and allows the noncitizen to rebut the presumption of asylum ineligibility by demonstrating

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exceptionally compelling circumstances. The rule specifically excepts unaccompanied children

from the presumption of ineligibility for asylum. When a noncitizen attends their credible fear

interview with USCIS, the asylum officer will assess whether the noncitizen is subject to the

CLP rule and, if so, whether an exception applies, or the presumption of asylum ineligibility can

be rebutted.

for asylum under the CLP rule, the asylum officer will conduct the credible fear interview using

the significant possibility standard, which includes an exploration of whether the applicant has a

credible fear of persecution or torture for all countries of nationality and all designated countries

of removal prior to the issuance of a credible fear determination.

If the noncitizen is unable to establish an exception or rebut the presumption of ineligibility for

asylum, their fear claim is assessed using the reasonable possibility standard, which requires a

higher standard of proof. The reasonable possibility standard includes screening the noncitizen

for fear of persecution or torture in the designated country or countries of removal, if any are

listed, to determine whether they would be eligible for statutory withholding of removal or

The Circumvention of Lawful Pathways rule applies to noncitizens who arrive at the Southwest

land border and adjacent coastal borders, meaning any coastal border at or near the U.S.-Mexico

border reached by an individual after traveling from Mexico and circumventing the U.S.-Mexico

land border. As noted above, noncitizens are not subject to the CLP rule if the noncitizen

1) entered the United States on or before May 11, 2023, 11:59 P.M. Eastern Time; 2) did not

enter the United States from Mexico across the Southwest land border or adjacent coastal border;

or 3) is a Mexican citizen, national, or stateless individual who last habitually resided in Mexico,

because the rule requires travel through a third country. During implementation of the CLP rule,

37,075 of the 51,224 credible fear cases USCIS completed between May 12, 2023, and August

11, 2023, have been subject to the rule. Of those subject to the rule:

• In 1,071 cases an exception to the CLP rule was established, resulting in 815 cases

(76.1%) receiving a positive determination at the significant possibility standard, 248

cases (23.2%) receiving a negative determination at the significant possibility standard,

and 8 cases (0.8%) were administratively closed.

• In 4,292 cases the presumption of ineligibility for asylum was rebutted, resulting in 3,698

cases (86.2%) receiving a positive determination at the significant possibility standard,

577 cases (13.4%) receiving a negative determination at the significant possibility

standard, and 17 cases (0.4%) were administratively closed.

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reasonable possibility standard, 14,937 (47.1%) receiving a negative determination at the

reasonable possibility standard, and 140 (0.4%) were administratively closed.

On August 3, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a stay of the U.S.

District Court for the Northern District of California’s order in East Bay Sanctuary Covenant v.

testify. I look forward to answering your questions.