EPIC, Coalition Urge DHS to Extend Comment Period on Massive Changes to Rules for Asylum Seekers

In a letter, EPIC and a coalition of 172 national, state, and local immigration, policy, direct services, and privacy organizations urged the Department of Homeland Security to extend an unusually short 30-day deadline for comments on a rulemaking that makes substantial changes to the process for seeking asylum in the U.S. The rulemaking’s short deadline coincides with the expiration of Title 42 restrictions on immigration at the southern border put in place in response to Covid-19. The NPRM contains many provisions that would make it more difficult for migrants to claim asylum status and also codifies the use of the CBP One app. That app has had serious problems with facial recognition failing to recognize black faces and widespread technical issues.

EPIC regularly engages on immigration and border surveillance. Earlier this month, EPIC joined a coalition urging ICE to cancel a contract with data broker LexisNexis providing ICE agents with detailed personal information on millions of people to aid detention and deporation raids. EPIC recently published a report, DHS’s Data Reservoir, which analyzes the ways that the Department of Homeland Security, in particular CBP and ICE, collects and circulates location data.