Thread by @ReichlinMelnick

🚨The last of the Trump administration's anti-asylum rules has been published—to go into effect just five days before inauguration.

This rule imposes a 15-day filing deadline on migrants after a first court hearing to submit an asylum application.

public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2020-27210.pdf

Here's what I wrote about the rule when first proposed.

It forces every person in "asylum only" proceedings—which thanks to last weeks' rule is EVERYONE screened at the border—to submit an asylum application just 15 days after their first court hearing.

immigrationimpact.com/2020/09/24/asy…

Asylum applications are complicated forms, over a dozen pages long, which by law must be submitted in English.

Following this new rule, people who are locked in detention with no lawyer and who don't speak English at all will be given just 15 to fill out and complete the form.

I won't make any bones about it—this is a vile rule, designed with no purpose other than to deny people the opportunity to seek asylum.

@DOJ_EOIR refused to engage with any of the comments opposing the rule. They closed their ears and hearts because they want to kill asylum.

The rule makes just one change to the proposal, despite hundreds of comments in opposition—it makes it worse, by imposing the 15-day filing deadline to people in "withholding only" proceedings who have a prior order of removal reinstated.

They have absolutely no shame.

Make no mistake—this rule will be blocked in court.

The Trump administration's utter failure to respond to comments is not only despicable, it's illegal.

E.g., commenters raise a host of problems about the practical impact of the rule. @DOJ_EOIR's response? Basically "Nuh-uh."

EOIR's entire premise for saying the 15-day deadline (a number which they picked out of thin air) is acceptable is that there is already a regulation which applies a 10-day filing deadline to an extremely narrow category of crewmembers on ships.

Totally laughable justification.

If I seem spitting mad about this rule, it's because I am.

This is a Kafkaesque attempt to doom asylum seekers through procedural pitfalls that will prevent all but a tiny number of people from successfully submitting an application.

The lawyers who wrote it should be ashamed.

Another example of @DOJ_EOIR ignoring comments is their claim in the final rule that "most asylum seekers" have counsel—something commenters told them was wrong.

Only "most" of those WHO FILED AN ASYLUM APPLICATION have counsel. Because it's hard to do that without a lawyer!!

That last point—that the entire premise of @DOJ_EOIR's claim that most asylum seekers have counsel is wrong—was rebutted in multiple comments.

For example, here's @immcouncil's and @AILANational's comment addressing this point.

That's an APA violation.
aila.org/infonet/aila-c…

Today's final rule shows that the Trump administration is going out the exact same way they came in on week one with the Muslim Ban—violating the law for the pursuit of racism.