The Department of Homeland Security, on Sunday, announced it has rescheduled hearings for asylum seekers and suspended temporarily a policy requiring some of them to travel to entry ports in Mexico while the COVID-19 is ongoing, for the updated court documents.

As per the Migrant Protection Protocols, asylum seekers are obliged "to wait in Mexico for their hearings" in the courtrooms of the United States. 

However, the COVID-19 crisis has led to months of postponement or delay of such hearings. Until Sunday, migrants were still necessitated to arrive at their assigned entry ports to receive new dates for their court hearings.

Nevertheless, policy migration attorneys condemned such a directive as it forced the asylum seekers to travel through Mexico's dangerous areas while social distancing was quite difficult to practice or even impossible.

Temporary Policy

Under the temporary rule, migrants are presently permitted to stay where they are until new dates for their court hearings become available. 

Relatively, the asylum seekers are ordered to arrive for their court hearings a month following their current set dates. For instance, as explained in the DHS statement, if the date of hearing is May 10, individuals then, need to show up on June 10. 

The department added, the DHS, as well as the "Executive Office for Immigration Review," are seriously committed to guaranteeing aliens' health and safety, as well as the frontline officers', the citizens', and the immigration court professionals'.

Meanwhile, asylum seekers whose court hearing is scheduled on or after June 22 need to proceed as scheduled unless another change is made by the DHS.

The Department's Response to the Pandemic

For several months now, DHS has risen to the new challenges which the COVID-19 pandemic presented. The department expressed how fortunate it is too, that the initiatives of its workforce across its components last week, it has expedited a rapid, "whole-of-government response" to alleviate the spread of the virus.

Additionally, the department, including its components, has continued proving its resiliency, amid these hard times to guarantee a prosperous, safe, and secure Homeland for the Americans.

According to Commandant Admiral Karl L. Schultz from the US Coast Guard, "as the lead federal agency in the maritime territory, the Coast Guard" is continuing to "stand the watch" amid the current worldwide pandemic, fulfilling both military and civil responsibilities for the protection of the country's prosperity, security and other interests of the nation.

The officer added, from the outbreak's onset, they have continued deploying "major cutters" for the enforcement of legislation and treaties, and prevent illegal activities like drug smuggling and unlawful migration.

The US Coast Guard has also rescued mariners who are distress at sea and addressed oil spills. It has backed the entire government too, in its response initiatives to address COVID-19, and retained commerce that flows through the more than 300 seaports, not to mention its "25,000 NM of navigable waterways."

Happily, the Service shared, it has done all of these initiatives while staying keenly concentrated on the preservation of the health and well-being of its workforce and their respective families, as well as the operational readiness of the Service.

Check these out!