Marshall Terry: It's time for a fact-check of North Carolina politics. This week we're looking at a claim made by Republican Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, whose district stretches from Winston-Salem to the border with Tennessee. During a recent committee hearing in which Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern of Massachusetts said some migrants who need housing in the US are asylum seekers, Foxx suggested they had not gone through the proper legal process.
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.): “No, no, no, no. They apply for asylum in the country where they are, and then they try to come into the United States,” Foxx said. “They don't come into the United States first, and then apply for asylum. No. We’re not going to support breaking the law.”
Terry: For more, we turn down to Paul Specht of WRAL. OK, Paul, before we get into the facts here, can you give us a little more context on this exchange between Foxx and McGovern?
Paul Specht: Foxx was in the House Rules Committee to support something called the Schools Not Shelters Act. And basically, it would prohibit schools, or even universities, that received federal funds from sheltering immigrants who entered the country illegally. In the committee meeting, Democrat Jim McGovern was trying to poke holes in her supportive arguments there, and that's what led to this exchange.
Terry: So what is the process for seeking asylum in the United States? What does the law say, and how have recent court rulings changed things?
Specht: Asylum is a legal protection that can be granted to people who have been persecuted — or who think they might soon be persecuted — in their home countries because of their race, religion, nationality, political views and things like that. And not everyone who goes through the process is granted asylum.
Her claim is misleading on a couple of fronts. She said that these migrants are supposed to apply in the country where they are and then try to come to the United States. When McGovern first heard that, he thought that she was saying, you must file a form while you are somewhere else before you get to the United States. And he said that's not true. You apply for asylum when you get to the United States border. That is true. It would be inaccurate to suggest that, you know, you can go through this process elsewhere. No. You actually must be on U.S. soil in order to apply for asylum here.
And then when we reached out to Foxx about her claim, she said, that's not what she meant. She was referring to new asylum rules that the Biden administration implemented this May. And that says, immigrants who are seeking asylum in the U.S. are encouraged to apply in a third country that they pass through. So say they're from Guatemala or Venezuela, they are encouraged to apply there first and then be denied, before they come into the U.S. and seek asylum here. But even her description of that process is misleading. It's not a law that they have to do that. It gets a little complicated. But in short, if you make an appointment at the border to have your asylum claim heard, which you can do through an app, this doesn't really apply to you. If you come into the country illegally, not at a point of entry as they call it, then that's when this kicks in.
That's when they say, 'Hey, have you applied in a third country yet and been denied?' If the answer is no, then you are presumed ineligible for asylum by immigration authorities. But presumed ineligible is not the same thing as breaking the law. It's just you have more hurdles to clear if you haven't done that already.
While we were in the process of fact-checking Congresswoman Foxx's claim, a judge ruled against this new Biden administration rule. Immigration advocates had challenged it in court saying that it actually violates U.S. and international law. The judge struck down the new rule July 25. The Biden administration has two weeks to file an appeal, and we'll see where it goes from there.
Terry: Is it fair to say there's a lot of confusion out there about what the rules are right now for asylum in the U.S.?
Specht: Yes, and the rules have changed a lot between Trump and Biden. This new Biden rule that encourages migrants to seek asylum in third countries was put into place after something called Title 42 ended. Title 42, not to go on a tangent, was put in place during the pandemic, it essentially gave U.S. immigration officials more authority to turn people away. But yes, these laws have changed a lot in recent months, and these rules have changed a lot in recent months. So it's pretty confusing.
Terry: So how did you rate this claim by Republican Congresswoman Virginia Foxx?
Specht: We rated it false. It's false on a couple fronts. The first interpretation being you don't have to be in another country to apply for asylum. You actually have to be in the U.S. And then secondly, her mischaracterization of this new Biden rule. If a migrant doesn't apply for asylum in a third country on the way here, that doesn't mean they're breaking the law. It just makes it harder for them to qualify it for asylum once they get here.
