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Asylum Rules Test Trump's Legal Skills to Make New Policy

Associated Press

   SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - Critics of the Trump administration's most
   sweeping set of rules to restrict asylum in the United States sent in a
   deluge of comments opposing the effort, hoping an old law that serves
   as a check on presidential power will weaken or even doom it.

   Opponents submitted nearly 80,000 public comments before Wednesday's
   deadline, with about 20,000 in the final hours. The Trump
   administration must address each concern in the final rules, setting
   itself up for legal challenges if it rushes or is careless.

   "This is kind of standard administrative law trench warfare," said
   Jonathan Adler, a professor at Case Western University School of Law.
   "It has been the case for some time that opponents of an agency action
   initially seek to flood the zone with comments and procedural
   objections as a way of slowing things down and cause a mistake, try to
   cause an unforced error."

   The proposal directs immigration judges to be more selective about
   granting asylum claims and allows them to deny some without a court
   hearing. Its dense language describes rules President Donald Trump's
   administration has already tried and others that are new.

   Trump has already remade much of the system for seeking humanitarian
   protection in the U.S., claiming it's rife with abuse and overwhelmed
   with undeserving claims. But courts recently knocked down some of his
   efforts on procedural grounds, including his bid to end the Deferred
   Action for Childhood Arrivals that shields about 700,000 young people
   from deportation.

   Groups taking aim at the newest proposal focusing on immigration courts
   urged supporters to issue comments. HIAS, a group that assists
   refugees, hosted a briefing for 370 people two weeks ago.

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