ImmigrationU.S. to use more discretion applying terrorism-related inadmissibility immigration rules

In one of the first presidential actions on immigration since the president’s State of the Union address last month, the Obama administration has relaxed the rules for would-be asylum-seekers, refugees, and individuals who want to come to the United States or remain in the country despite their classification as having provided “limited material support” to terrorists or terrorist organizations.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the State Department say that the rule change, which was made without congressional participation and announced last week, means that the government now has more discretion in making immigration decisions. The United States will not open to members of terror groups or their sympathizers, and rigorous s security and background checks will still be applied to asylum seekers, including those already in the United States.

Al Jazeera reports that a post-9/11 provision in immigration law, known as terrorism related inadmissible grounds, had affected individuals who were considered to have supported terrorism. The provision was criticized for allowing few exemptions beyond providing medical care or acting under duress. Last week’s rule change allows immigration officials to consider whether the support was not only limited but part of “routine commercial transactions or routine social transactions.”

The new rule does not specifically address “freedom fighters,”that is, individuals who fought established governments, including members of rebel groups who participated in the Arab Spring uprisings. As of 2011, 4,400 immigration cases were placed on hold as the government reviewed exemptions to the rule which denied visas and refugee status to individuals thought to have supported terror or rebel groups.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, supports the rule change. “The existing interpretation was so broad as to be unworkable,” Leahy said in a statement. Al Jazeera notes that Leahy claimed that the previous rule barred applicants for reasons “that no rational person would consider.”

 Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-Virginia), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, called the rule change naive. “President Obama should be protecting U.S. citizens rather than taking a chance on those who are aiding and abetting terrorist activity and putting Americans at greater risk,” Goodlatte said.

For those concerned that the rule change will allow terrorists and their sympathizers to gain asylum and American visas, DHS spokesman Peter Boogaard said, “refugee applicants are subject to more security checks than any other category of traveler to the United States. Nothing in these exemptions changes the rigorous, multi layered security screening we do.”