2021 Report on International Religious Freedom & More News Here

When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created, it assumed duties previously charged to the Immigration and Naturalization Service underneath the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).  DHS is dedicated to making sure all candidates for asylum and refugee standing are handled with equity, respect, and dignity, and that each one mandates of the IRFA involving the asylum and refugee packages are correctly applied.  This appendix summarizes the actions of DHS U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations (RAIO) Directorate throughout calendar 12 months (CY) 2021, relating to coaching supplied to officers on violations of non secular freedom and the event and implementation of pointers that deal with potential hostile biases as required underneath Section 102(b)(1)(E) of the IRFA.

I. Training of Refugee Officers, Asylum Officers, and Other USCIS Staff Who Adjudicate Refugee and Asylum Claims

USCIS is liable for adjudicating asylum purposes, conducting safety screenings, and adjudicating requests for classification as a refugee outdoors of the United States.  During CY 2021, USCIS additionally performed interviews and made non-refoulment assessments pursuant to the Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP)[1] and Title 42.  USCIS offers in depth coaching to refugee officers, asylum officers, worldwide adjudications officers, and different officers quickly detailed to carry out these duties with the intention to put together them to interview asylum candidates and refugee candidates and to evaluate, display screen, or in any other case adjudicate their requests for cover.

During CY 2021, USCIS officer coaching for RAIO was composed of the RAIO Foundations Training Program (RAIO FTP) and adjudication-specific parts addressing procedures particular to every case-type (refugee standing, asylum, safety screenings, and so on.)

The USCIS RAIO FTP contains instruction associated to rules of worldwide human rights regulation, U.S. regulation governing refugee and asylum adjudications, non-adversarial interviewing strategies, credibility assessments, nationwide safety points, country-of-origin data, authorized analysis, eliciting testimony, determination making, and different essential subjects.  During the course, officers acquired specialised instruction to make sure unbiased refugee and asylum adjudications, together with instruction on the character of non secular persecution overseas, non secular freedom, and persecution on account of faith as one of many 5 protected grounds on which asylum and refugee standing could also be based mostly.  This instruction included materials particularly on the IRFA and shows on the IRFA by specialists on non secular persecution.  The coaching supplies are usually up to date to replicate any change in regulation, coverage, and procedures, and incorporate related data on non secular persecution from the Department of State, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and different sources.  In CY 2021, USCIS skilled 44 new asylum officers, 10 new refugee officers, and three worldwide adjudications officers who ceaselessly adjudicate refugee claims, and one RAIO Research Unit officer.  USCIS additionally skilled two immigration officers from the USCIS Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate who work in RAIO workplaces.

In addition to the instruction within the RAIO FTP, the case-specific coaching that follows contains further instruction.  For instance, RAIO’S International and Refugee Affairs Division conducts FormI-590 Module coaching overlaying all subjects mandatory to totally adjudicate a refugee case – together with content material with particular emphasis on religious-based claims and claims with non secular issues, equivalent to Lautenberg-Specter instances.  Ten of RAIO’s workers acquired I-590 Module coaching in CY 2021.  In addition, pre-departure briefings have been supplied previous to deployment on abroad refugee processing journeys.  These pre-departure briefings included an eight-day coaching session centered on particular points associated to the area the place workers would journey and the refugee populations they might encounter.  These briefings additionally highlighted explicit considerations within the area relating to non secular persecution, in addition to particular points associated to refugee adjudications in that space.

In RAIO’s Asylum Division, additional dialogue of non secular persecution is addressed in superior coaching programs and in native asylum workplace coaching.  The Asylum Division usually updates its coaching supplies and conducts coaching in native asylum workplaces to replicate any just lately issued stories on non secular persecution from the UNHCR and different organizations, in addition to any latest developments in case regulation or nation situations on this challenge.  To this finish, officers acquired continued instruction on the best way to seek the advice of and use the IRF stories of their adjudications as supplemented and enhanced with data from different stories, case regulation, and present occasions.

The RAIO Research Unit maintains a set of supplies relating to human rights situations world wide.  The Research Unit has revealed an internet information on web analysis obtainable to all USCIS workers.  The information contains hyperlinks to governmental and nongovernmental internet sites that include data on non secular persecution, in addition to different points related to asylum adjudications and refugee adjudications.  The Research Unit solutions queries from the sphere on issues of non secular freedom and maintains a database of written responses that’s obtainable to officers.  The Research Unit catalogs its holdings relating to non secular freedom and associated points.  The Research Unit supplied shows throughout pre-departure briefings, famous above, to officers as a part of their preparation to adjudicate instances overseas, usually delving into related non secular freedom points which might be current within the case load.  The Research Unit additionally supplied shows to asylum workplaces on nation situations which might be related to the actual case composition of the respective workplaces, together with points of non secular freedom.  Periodically, the Research Unit invitations visitor audio system to USCIS to handle important worldwide occasions, equivalent to rising or ongoing civil wars and human rights violations.  When related, non secular freedom points are built-in into the dialogue.  The Research Unit produces a month-to-month information abstract for officers all through the company on human rights abuses and sociopolitical developments world wide.  The information abstract ceaselessly comprises articles relating to non secular intolerance and persecution.

II. Guidelines for Addressing Hostile Biases

For refugee applicant interviews, the Resettlement Support Centers, managed by the Department of State, rent and handle interpreters at refugee processing areas.  Prior to the refugee interview, interpreters are notified of their roles and duties and are positioned underneath oath by USCIS officers and swear or affirm that interpretation will probably be full and correct and that they perceive the confidential nature of the refugee interview.  If there are indications the interpreter and applicant don’t perceive one another, or the interpreter is just not correctly fulfilling the obligations of the interpreter function, procedures are set forth for the USCIS officer to request a distinct interpreter for the interview.  In the occasion an interpreter is discovered to be incompetent or shows improper conduct, the interpreter is changed.

The Asylum Division conducts safety screening interviews in addition to affirmative asylum interviews.  In the safety screening context for CY 2021 (Safe Third Country screenings, credible worry and cheap worry screening interviews, and MPP and Title 42 non-refoulement interviews), the Asylum Division supplied contracted interpreters for many who couldn’t proceed with an interview in English.  Separate from safety screenings, USCIS asylum officers adjudicate the asylum purposes of people within the United States who affirmatively apply for asylum.  Immigration judges throughout the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review adjudicate the asylum purposes of people within the United States who’re positioned in elimination proceedings.

On September 23, 2020, USCIS applied a brief ultimate rule (TFR) entitled Asylum Interview Interpreter Requirement Modification Due to COVID-19 (Asylum Interview Interpreter TFR), 85 FR 59655, which was prolonged at 86 FR 15072 (March 22, 2021), then prolonged at 86 FR 51781 (September 17, 2021), and later prolonged at 87 FR 14757 (March 16, 2022), till March 16, 2023.  The Asylum Interview Interpreter TFR quickly modifies rules to offer that asylum candidates who can not proceed with the interview in English are usually not required to offer interpreters on the affirmative asylum interview however fairly should ordinarily proceed with USCIS-provided telephonic interpreters so long as they’re fluent in one of many 47 languages listed in 8 CFR 208.9(h)(1).  This momentary ultimate rule additionally offers that if a USCIS interpreter is unavailable, USCIS will both reschedule the interview and attribute the interview delay to USCIS for the needs of employment authorization underneath 8 CFR 208.7, or USCIS might, in its discretion, permit the applicant to offer an interpreter.  This momentary change is one in every of USCIS’s mitigation efforts to guard the well being and security of Asylum Division staff and the general public on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prior to conducting any interpretation for the asylum interview or safety screening interview, the interpreter (contracted by USCIS or applicant-provided) should take an oath to totally and precisely interpret the proceedings of the interview and to maintain the contents of the interview confidential.  The contracted interpreter monitor should additionally take an oath to report back to the asylum officer any mistranslation noticed in the course of the interview.  Included within the oath for all contracted interpreters/displays is the requirement to right away notify the officer if the contracted interpreter/monitor is unable to proceed in a impartial and unbiased method, in addition to to take care of the confidentiality of the interview.  Procedures are in place for the asylum officer to terminate and reschedule the interview if the applicant-provided interpreter is discovered to be misrepresenting the applicant’s testimony, is incompetent, or shows improper conduct.

USCIS contains particular confidentiality and anti-bias provisions within the interpreter companies contracts which might be utilized by asylum workplaces to acquire interpreters for screening interviews and interpreter displays for affirmative asylum interviews.  The contracts embrace particular provisions that make sure the safety and confidentiality of the interview course of.  All people working underneath the Asylum Division’s interpreter companies contracts are required to endure suitability determinations and background investigations performed by the USCIS Office of Security and Integrity (OSI).  As a part of the package deal submission to OSI for the suitability dedication and background investigation, contractors are required to submit a signed and witnessed DHS Form 11000-6, which is a non-disclosure settlement.  Additionally, all people working underneath the contract are required to finish a signed and notarized Confidentiality and Neutrality Statement.  The contracts additionally require vendor interpreters to obtain coaching, together with periods on safety consciousness and privateness to make sure the safety of delicate data.

The Asylum Division interpreter contracts additionally embrace efficiency metrics to make sure professionalism, fluency, accuracy, and impartiality of contracted interpreters.  To implement these efficiency metrics, Asylum Division workers report back to headquarters any considerations in regards to the professionalism, accuracy, or neutrality of the interpretation.  These considerations are raised with the contracting program supervisor of the interpreter companies corporations and will lead to performance-related penalties.  Under contract, the interpreter companies corporations should, in session with the Asylum Division, take acceptable steps to handle these complaints.  Depending on the seriousness of the infraction and/or the interpreter’s prior efficiency historical past, cures might embrace retraining or elimination from the contract(s).  Ultimately, the Contracting Officer for the USCIS Asylum Division contract has the authority to take away an interpreter from the contract(s).

[1] DHS started MPP in January 2019 and was suspended in January 2021.  In December 2021, as required by court docket order, DHS reimplemented MPP in good religion.

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