Kyrsten Sinema Leads Bipartisan Push To Streamline Removal Of Migrant Families With Invalid Asylum Claims

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) is spearheading an effort to streamline the screening and deportation process for migrant families who have entered into the United States without valid legal claims for asylum.

“This pilot program would apply to families who aren’t claiming ‘credible fear,’ which of course is the first threshold in seeking asylum,” Sinema told The Arizona Republic on Thursday. “If someone says ‘I left my country because I can’t make a living’ [or] ‘it’s hard to take care of my family,’ that’s what we call an economic migrant.”

Referring to the program as “Operation Safe Return,” Sinema helped craft the pilot program with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), who chairs the Homeland Security Committee in the Senate. She initially designed the program after the Trump administration discussed potential changes to American asylum laws and mulled over challenges to court rulings that have more recently dictated immigration policy.

“I just felt those weren’t the right answers,” Sinema said. “We wanted to solve the problem. We wanted to protect the asylum process for valid applicants … and we want to respect the Flores decision.”

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