Melania Trump’s immigration attorney, Michael Wildes, is criticizing President Trump’s policies, saying the U.S. could do more to protect asylum seekers.
“We can afford to do more when it comes to political asylum,” Wildes told Hill.TV co-hosts Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton on “Rising.”
“Right now, this president is shutting America’s door and it should be hinged open to help those in need,” Wildes continued.
Wildes, who claims to be a “proud Democrat,” said that immigration has become too polarized in today’s political climate, saying lawmakers “have to come up with something that’s calibrated down the middle.”
But the former federal prosecutor argues that the Trump administration continues to exacerbate the issue by focusing on keeping immigrants out rather than dealing with the existing backlog of immigration cases at the U.S. southern border, and providing a legal pathway for immigrants who are already here.
The immigration backlog exceeds at least 700,000 cases, according to Syracuse University’s TRAC Immigration database.
“We’re debating a topic, putting up walls and trying to scare Americans…when we have 12 million people here already without status,” the Wildes told Hill.TV.
He adds this that some students, clerics and even diplomats lack the right status.
President Trump has been cracking down on asylum seekers as part of his hardline stance on immigration that he touted during throughout his 2016 presidential campaign.
In July, the Trump administration implemented a new asylum policy that has made it even more difficult for political refugees to be granted asylum.
Under the new guidance, federal officials who interview asylum seekers – known as USCIS asylum adjudication officers – can decide whether an immigrant crossed the border illegally and weigh that against their claim.
The new policy also instructs officers to turn away asylum seekers who cite gangs or domestic violence as a reason for entry before they’ve had a chance to plead their case.
This overhaul came after Attorney General Jeff Sessions overturned an immigration appeals court ruling that granted a Salvadoran woman asylum who was fleeing from domestic abuse, citing it no longer constituted grounds to be granted permanent entry into the U.S.
— Tess Bonn
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