(C) U.S. State Dept This story was originally published by U.S. State Dept and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom [1] [] Date: 2023-07 When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created, it assumed responsibilities formerly charged to the Immigration and Naturalization Service under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA). DHS is committed to ensuring all applicants for asylum and refugee status are treated with fairness, respect, and dignity, and that all mandates of the IRFA involving the asylum and refugee programs are properly implemented. This appendix summarizes the actions of DHS U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations (RAIO) Directorate during calendar year (CY) 2021, regarding training provided to officers on violations of religious freedom and the development and implementation of guidelines that address potential hostile biases as required under Section 102(b)(1)(E) of the IRFA. I. Training of Refugee Officers, Asylum Officers, and Other USCIS Staff Who Adjudicate Refugee and Asylum Claims USCIS is responsible for adjudicating asylum applications, conducting protection screenings, and adjudicating requests for classification as a refugee outside of the United States. During CY 2021, USCIS also conducted interviews and made non-refoulment assessments pursuant to the Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP)[1] and Title 42. USCIS provides extensive training to refugee officers, asylum officers, international adjudications officers, and other officers temporarily detailed to perform these duties in order to prepare them to interview asylum applicants and refugee applicants and to assess, screen, or otherwise adjudicate their requests for protection. During CY 2021, USCIS officer training for RAIO was composed of the RAIO Foundations Training Program (RAIO FTP) and adjudication-specific components addressing procedures specific to each case-type (refugee status, asylum, protection screenings, etc.) The USCIS RAIO FTP includes instruction related to principles of international human rights law, U.S. law governing refugee and asylum adjudications, non-adversarial interviewing techniques, credibility assessments, national security issues, country-of-origin information, legal research, eliciting testimony, decision making, and other critical topics. During the course, officers received specialized instruction to ensure unbiased refugee and asylum adjudications, including instruction on the nature of religious persecution abroad, religious freedom, and persecution on account of religion as one of the five protected grounds on which asylum and refugee status may be based. This instruction included material specifically on the IRFA and presentations on the IRFA by experts on religious persecution. The training materials are regularly updated to reflect any change in law, policy, and procedures, and incorporate relevant information on religious persecution from the Department of State, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and other sources. In CY 2021, USCIS trained 44 new asylum officers, 10 new refugee officers, and three international adjudications officers who frequently adjudicate refugee claims, and one RAIO Research Unit officer. USCIS also trained two immigration officers from the USCIS Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate who work in RAIO offices. In addition to the instruction in the RAIO FTP, the case-specific training that follows includes additional instruction. For example, RAIO’S International and Refugee Affairs Division conducts FormI-590 Module training covering all topics necessary to fully adjudicate a refugee case – including content with specific emphasis on religious-based claims and claims with religious considerations, such as Lautenberg-Specter cases. Ten of RAIO’s staff received I-590 Module training in CY 2021. In addition, pre-departure briefings were provided prior to deployment on overseas refugee processing trips. These pre-departure briefings included an eight-day training session focused on specific issues related to the region where staff would travel and the refugee populations they would encounter. These briefings also highlighted particular concerns in the region regarding religious persecution, as well as specific issues related to refugee adjudications in that area. In RAIO’s Asylum Division, further discussion of religious persecution is addressed in advanced training courses and in local asylum office training. The Asylum Division regularly updates its training materials and conducts training in local asylum offices to reflect any recently issued reports on religious persecution from the UNHCR and other organizations, as well as any recent developments in case law or country conditions on this issue. To this end, officers received continued instruction on how to consult and use the IRF reports in their adjudications as supplemented and enhanced with information from other reports, case law, and current events. The RAIO Research Unit maintains a collection of materials regarding human rights conditions around the world. The Research Unit has published an online guide on internet research available to all USCIS staff. The guide includes links to governmental and nongovernmental web sites that contain information on religious persecution, as well as other issues relevant to asylum adjudications and refugee adjudications. The Research Unit answers queries from the field on matters of religious freedom and maintains a database of written responses that is available to officers. The Research Unit catalogs its holdings regarding religious freedom and related issues. The Research Unit provided presentations during pre-departure briefings, noted above, to officers as part of their preparation to adjudicate cases abroad, often delving into relevant religious freedom issues that are present in the case load. The Research Unit also provided presentations to asylum offices on country conditions that are relevant to the particular case composition of the respective offices, including issues of religious freedom. Periodically, the Research Unit invites guest speakers to USCIS to address significant international events, such as emerging or ongoing civil wars and human rights violations. When relevant, religious freedom issues are integrated into the discussion. The Research Unit produces a monthly news summary for officers throughout the agency on human rights abuses and sociopolitical developments around the world. The news summary frequently contains articles regarding religious intolerance and persecution. II. Guidelines for Addressing Hostile Biases For refugee applicant interviews, the Resettlement Support Centers, managed by the Department of State, hire and manage interpreters at refugee processing locations. Prior to the refugee interview, interpreters are notified of their roles and responsibilities and are placed under oath by USCIS officers and swear or affirm that interpretation will be complete and accurate and that they understand the confidential nature of the refugee interview. If there are indications the interpreter and applicant do not understand each other, or the interpreter is not properly fulfilling the obligations of the interpreter role, procedures are set forth for the USCIS officer to request a different interpreter for the interview. In the event an interpreter is found to be incompetent or displays improper conduct, the interpreter is replaced. The Asylum Division conducts protection screening interviews as well as affirmative asylum interviews. In the protection screening context for CY 2021 (Safe Third Country screenings, credible fear and reasonable fear screening interviews, and MPP and Title 42 non-refoulement interviews), the Asylum Division provided contracted interpreters for those who could not proceed with an interview in English. Separate from protection screenings, USCIS asylum officers adjudicate the asylum applications of individuals in the United States who affirmatively apply for asylum. Immigration judges within the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review adjudicate the asylum applications of individuals in the United States who are placed in removal proceedings. On September 23, 2020, USCIS implemented a temporary final rule (TFR) entitled Asylum Interview Interpreter Requirement Modification Due to COVID-19 (Asylum Interview Interpreter TFR), 85 FR 59655, which was extended at 86 FR 15072 (March 22, 2021), then extended at 86 FR 51781 (September 17, 2021), and later extended at 87 FR 14757 (March 16, 2022), until March 16, 2023. The Asylum Interview Interpreter TFR temporarily modifies regulations to provide that asylum applicants who cannot proceed with the interview in English are not required to provide interpreters at the affirmative asylum interview but rather must ordinarily proceed with USCIS-provided telephonic interpreters as long as they are fluent in one of the 47 languages listed in 8 CFR 208.9(h)(1). This temporary final rule also provides that if a USCIS interpreter is unavailable, USCIS will either reschedule the interview and attribute the interview delay to USCIS for the purposes of employment authorization under 8 CFR 208.7, or USCIS may, in its discretion, allow the applicant to provide an interpreter. This temporary change is one of USCIS’s mitigation efforts to protect the health and safety of Asylum Division employees and the public as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to conducting any interpretation for the asylum interview or protection screening interview, the interpreter (contracted by USCIS or applicant-provided) must take an oath to fully and accurately interpret the proceedings of the interview and to keep the contents of the interview confidential. The contracted interpreter monitor must also take an oath to report to the asylum officer any mistranslation observed during the interview. Included in the oath for all contracted interpreters/monitors is the requirement to immediately notify the officer if the contracted interpreter/monitor is unable to proceed in a neutral and unbiased manner, as well as to maintain the confidentiality of the interview. Procedures are in place for the asylum officer to terminate and reschedule the interview if the applicant-provided interpreter is found to be misrepresenting the applicant’s testimony, is incompetent, or displays improper conduct. USCIS includes specific confidentiality and anti-bias provisions in the interpreter services contracts that are used by asylum offices to obtain interpreters for screening interviews and interpreter monitors for affirmative asylum interviews. The contracts include special provisions that ensure the security and confidentiality of the interview process. All individuals working under the Asylum Division’s interpreter services contracts are required to undergo suitability determinations and background investigations conducted by the USCIS Office of Security and Integrity (OSI). As part of the package submission to OSI for the suitability determination and background investigation, contractors are required to submit a signed and witnessed DHS Form 11000-6, which is a non-disclosure agreement. Additionally, all individuals working under the contract are required to complete a signed and notarized Confidentiality and Neutrality Statement. The contracts also require vendor interpreters to receive training, including sessions on security awareness and privacy to ensure the protection of sensitive information. The Asylum Division interpreter contracts also include performance metrics to ensure professionalism, fluency, accuracy, and impartiality of contracted interpreters. To enforce these performance metrics, Asylum Division staff report to headquarters any concerns about the professionalism, accuracy, or neutrality of the interpretation. These concerns are raised with the contracting program manager of the interpreter services companies and may result in performance-related penalties. Under contract, the interpreter services companies must, in consultation with the Asylum Division, take appropriate steps to address these complaints. Depending on the seriousness of the infraction and/or the interpreter’s prior performance history, remedies may include retraining or removal from the contract(s). Ultimately, the Contracting Officer for the USCIS Asylum Division contract has the authority to remove an interpreter from the contract(s). [1] DHS began MPP in January 2019 and was suspended in January 2021. In December 2021, as required by court order, DHS reimplemented MPP in good faith. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/ Published and (C) by U.S. State Dept Content appears here under this condition or license: Public Domain. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/usstate/