In 1996, Congress created and passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act , or IIRIRA.

Part of this bill included the Expedited Removal Process which recognizes that the United States has a “moral, humanitarian and international legal obligation to provide protection for individuals fleeing religious and other forms of persecution.”

Just last week, USCIRF submitted this statement to the House Judiciary Committee hearing on the U.S. asylum process.

For more information, view USCIRF’s Special Report: Assessing the U.S. Government’s Detention of Asylum seekers here .