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WASHINGTON - Today marks the first anniversary of the creation of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Center for Countering Human Trafficking (CCHT). The CCHT, led by ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), is a DHS-wide effort dedicated to bringing human traffickers to justice, protecting victims of sex trafficking and forced labor, and preventing these terrible crimes from occurring.
In recognition of the CCHT and to continue to advance its critical work, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas directed DHS components to incorporate a victim-centered approach into all policies, programs, and activities governing DHS interactions with victims of crime.
"The victim-centered approach is critical to the work of the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking and to the Department's fight against all crimes involving severe abuse and exploitation," said "Safeguarding, supporting, and respecting victims of human trafficking is not just the right thing to do. It also enables law enforcement to better detect, investigate, and prosecute perpetrators of human trafficking."
DHS also announced a number of new initiatives across components to combat sex trafficking and forced labor:
ICE HSI issued a directive underscoring HSI personnel's responsibility to identify and assist victims of crime. The CCHT launched a new public website at DHS.Gov/CCHT to bring together all DHS anti-human trafficking resources in one easily accessible place. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released the first ever standalone T-Visa Resource Guide for law enforcement and certifying agencies. The T-Visa Resource Guide provides information to certifying agencies, including law enforcement, on how to support victims of human trafficking while law enforceme
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WASHINGTON In a key step toward implementing the Administration's blueprint for a fair, orderly, and humane immigration system, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) are publishing a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would amend current regulations to improve the processing of asylum claims. The proposed rule would allow, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) asylum officers to hear and decide applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and Convention Against Torture (CAT) protection for individuals who receive a positive credible fear determination. These cases are currently assigned to immigration judges within DOJ's Executive Office for Immigration Review.
"These proposed changes will significantly improve DHS's and DOJ's ability to more promptly and efficiently consider the asylum claims of individuals encountered at or near the border, while ensuring fundamental fairness," said Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas. "Individuals who are eligible will receive relief more swiftly, while those who are not eligible will be expeditiously removed. We are building an immigration system that is designed to ensure due process, respect human dignity, and promote equity."
"Today marks a step forward in our effort to make the asylum process fairer and more expeditious," said Attorney General Merrick Garland. "This rule will both reduce the caseload in our immigration courts and protect the rights of those fleeing persecution and violence."
The current system for hearing and adjudicating asylum claims at the southwest border has long needed repair. For nearly a decade, the number of such claims has ballooned, and the system has proved unable to keep pace, resulting in large backlogs and years-long delays i
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