SAN DIEGO, United States (CMC) — The California-based Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) has strongly denounced a new asylum rule by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), warning that the policy will accelerate deportations and deny vulnerable Caribbean and other immigrants a fair opportunity to seek protection.

HBA said the new rule, which is “being implemented under the guise of reducing the asylum backlog”, allows asylum officers to bypass key procedural steps and shift more cases into immigration court or removal proceedings, “raising serious concerns about due process and access to justice”.

HBA Executive Director Guerline Jozef told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that the United States must not address an administrative backlog by creating barriers that prevent people fleeing persecution from receiving a fair hearing.