Rule2023-07966
Implementation of the 2022 Additional Protocol to the 2002 U.S.-Canada Agreement for Cooperation in the Examination of Refugee Status Claims From Nationals of Third Countries; Correction
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
April 17, 2023
Effective
April 17, 2023
Issuing agencies
Homeland Security DepartmentJustice DepartmentExecutive Office for Immigration Review
Abstract
The Department of Justice ("DOJ") and the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") ("collectively, "the Departments") are correcting inadvertent errors and omissions in the preamble and the amendatory language of the final rule titled "Implementation of the 2022 Additional Protocol to the 2002 U.S.-Canada Agreement for Cooperation in the Examination of Refugee Status Claims from Nationals of Third Countries" published in the Federal Register on March 28, 2023.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 73 (Monday, April 17, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 73 (Monday, April 17, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 23329-23330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-07966]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
8 CFR Part 208
[CIS No. 2720-22; DHS Docket No. USCIS-2023-0003]
RIN 1615-AC84
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Executive Office for Immigration Review
8 CFR Parts 1003 and 1240
[EOIR No. 23-0010; AG Order No. 5632-2023]
RIN 1125-AB29
Implementation of the 2022 Additional Protocol to the 2002 U.S.-
Canada Agreement for Cooperation in the Examination of Refugee Status
Claims From Nationals of Third Countries; Correction
AGENCY: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of
Homeland Security; Executive Office for Immigration Review, Department
of Justice.
ACTION: Final rule; correction and correcting amendment.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Justice (``DOJ'') and the Department of
Homeland Security (``DHS'') (``collectively, ``the Departments'') are
correcting inadvertent errors and omissions in the preamble and the
amendatory language of the final rule titled ``Implementation of the
2022 Additional Protocol to the 2002 U.S.-Canada Agreement for
Cooperation in the Examination of Refugee Status Claims from Nationals
of Third Countries'' published in the Federal Register on March 28,
2023.
DATES: This correction is effective April 17, 2023, and is applicable
beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, March 25, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services: Ren[aacute] Cutlip-Mason, Chief, Division of Humanitarian
Affairs, Office of Policy and Strategy, U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security, 5900 Capital
Gateway Drive, Camp Springs, MD 20588-0009; telephone (240) 721-3000
(not a toll-free call).
For Executive Office of Immigration Review: Lauren Alder Reid,
Assistant Director, Office of Policy, Executive Office for Immigration
Review, Department of Justice, 5107 Leesburg Pike, Suite 1800, Falls
Church, VA 22041; telephone (703) 305-0289 (not a toll-free call).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Need for Correction
On March 28, 2023, the Departments published a final rule in the
Federal Register at 88 FR 18227 to implement the Additional Protocol to
the Agreement between The Government of the United States of America
and The Government of Canada For Cooperation in the Examination of
Refugee Status Claims From Nationals of Third Countries (``Additional
Protocol of 2022'') negotiated by the Governments of the United States
and Canada, and signed in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on March 29, 2022,
and in Washington, DC, United States, on April 15, 2022,
respectively.\1\ The Additional Protocol of 2022 supplements certain
terms of the December 5, 2002 Agreement between The Government of the
United States and The Government of Canada For Cooperation in the
Examination of Refugee Status Claims from Nationals of Third Countries
(``Safe Third Country Agreement,'' ``STCA'').\2\ This document corrects
inadvertent errors and omissions in the final rule published on March
28, 2023.
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\1\ See 88 FR 18227.
\2\ See id.
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In the final rule, DHS amended 8 CFR 208.30(e)(7) to clarify that
the STCA includes the Additional Protocol of 2022.\3\ The regulations
at 8 CFR 208.30(e)(7) consists of paragraph (e)(7) introductory text
paragraphs (e)(7)(i) through (iv). DHS intended to revise only the
introductory text of paragraph (e)(7) of 8 CFR 208.30 and to leave
paragraphs (e)(7)(i) through (iv) intact. However, through its
instructions, DHS inadvertently removed paragraphs (e)(7)(i) through
(iv) of Sec. 208.30. This document corrects this error and the
amendatory language to ensure that these paragraphs remain in the Code
of Federal Regulations (``CFR''). DHS makes no additional changes to 8
CFR 208.30(e)(7) with this correction.
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\3\ See 88 FR 18227 at 18232-33, 18234-35.
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Additionally, in the final rule, DOJ amended 8 CFR 1003.42(h). DOJ
revised paragraphs (h)(1) and (2) by making conforming amendments,
including amendments to clarify that any determination under the STCA
includes the Additional Protocol of 2022.\4\ The regulatory text also
indicated a change in the heading of paragraph (h)--i.e., changing
``Asylum cooperative agreement-'' to ``Safe Third Country Agreement--
''.\5\ That change was inadvertent, as reflected by the fact that DOJ
omitted any reference to changing
[[Page 23330]]
the paragraph (h) heading in the associated amendatory text.\6\
Further, because DOJ did not include a change to the paragraph (h)
heading in the amendatory text, the current text of the CFR retains the
original wording--i.e., ``Asylum Cooperative Agreement--''. Because the
current CFR text uses the correct heading, DOJ is not altering the
paragraph (h) heading with this document. DOJ now clarifies, however,
that no change in the paragraph (h) heading was intended by the
publication of the rule at 88 FR 18227 or the inadvertent use of the
phrase ``Safe Third Country Agreement--'' at 88 FR 18240.
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\4\ See 88 FR at 18233 and 18235.
\5\ See 88 FR at 18240.
\6\ See id.
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Finally, the Departments are correcting the omission of a reference
to the CFR in a citation in the preamble at 88 FR 18232 n.43.
Corrections
Preamble Correction
In FR Doc. 2023-06351, appearing on page 18227 in the March 28,
2023, issue of the Federal Register, the following correction is made:
1. On page 18232, in the third column in footnote 43, revise the
last sentence (the citation sentence) to read as follows: ``See 8 CFR
1240.11(h)(1) (revised).''
CFR Correction
List of Subjects in 8 CFR Part 208
Administrative practice and procedure, Aliens, Immigration,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
For reasons stated in the preamble, the Department of Homeland
Security amends 8 CFR part 208 with the following correcting amendment:
PART 208--PROCEDURES FOR ASYLUM AND WITHHOLDING OF REMOVAL
0
1. The authority citation for part 208 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 8 U.S.C. 1101, 1103, 1158, 1226, 1252, 1282; Title
VII of Pub. L. 110-229; 8 CFR part 2; Pub. L. 115-218.
0
2. In Sec. 208.30, add paragraphs (e)(7)(i) through (iv) to read as
follows:
Sec. 208.30 Credible fear determinations involving stowaways and
applicants for admission found inadmissible pursuant to section
212(a)(6)(C) or 212(a)(7) of the Act.
* * * * *
(e) * * *
(7) * * *
(i)(A) If the asylum officer, with concurrence from a supervisory
asylum officer, determines during the threshold screening interview
that an alien does not qualify for an exception under the applicable
agreement, and, if applicable, that the alien has not demonstrated that
it is more likely than not that he or she would be persecuted on
account of a protected ground or tortured in the receiving country, the
alien is ineligible to apply for asylum in the United States. Subject
to paragraph (e)(7)(i)(B) of this section, after the asylum officer's
documented finding is reviewed by a supervisory asylum officer, the
alien shall be advised that he or she will be removed to the receiving
country, as appropriate under the applicable agreement, in order to
pursue his or her claims relating to a fear of persecution or torture
under the law of the receiving country. Prior to removal to a receiving
country under an agreement authorized by section 208(a)(2)(A), the
alien shall be informed that, in the receiving country, the alien will
have an opportunity to pursue the alien's claim for asylum or
equivalent temporary protection.
(B) Aliens found ineligible to apply for asylum under this
paragraph (e)(7) shall be removed to the receiving country, depending
on the applicable agreement, unless the alien voluntarily withdraws his
or her request for asylum.
(ii) If the alien establishes by a preponderance of the evidence
that he or she qualifies for an exception under the terms of the
applicable agreement, or would more likely than not be persecuted on
account of his or her race, religion, nationality, membership in a
particular social group, or tortured, in the receiving country, the
asylum officer shall make a written notation to that effect, and may
then proceed to determine whether any other agreement is applicable to
the alien under the procedures set forth in this paragraph (e)(7). If
the alien establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that he or she
qualifies for an exception under the terms of each of the applicable
agreements, or would more likely than not be persecuted on account of
his or her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular
social group, or tortured, in each of the prospective receiving
countries, the asylum officer shall make a written notation to that
effect, and then proceed immediately to a determination concerning
whether the alien has a credible fear of persecution, reasonable
possibility of persecution, or a reasonable possibility of torture,
under paragraph (d) of this section.
(iii) An exception to an applicable agreement is defined under the
terms of the agreement itself. Each agreement, including any
exceptions, will be announced in a Federal Register document. If the
asylum officer determines that an alien is within one of the classes
covered by a section 208(a)(2)(A) agreement, the officer shall next
determine whether the alien meets any of the applicable agreement's
exceptions. Regardless of whether the text of the applicable agreement
provides for the following exceptions, all such agreements, by
operation of section 208(a)(2)(A) of the Act, and as applicable to the
United States, are deemed to contain the following provisions:
(A) No alien may be removed, pursuant to an agreement authorized by
section 208(a)(2)(A), to the alien's country of nationality, or, if the
alien has no nationality, to the alien's country of last habitual
residence; and
(B) No alien may be removed, pursuant to an agreement authorized by
section 208(a)(2)(A), where the Director of USCIS, or the Director's
designee, determines, in the exercise of unreviewable discretion, that
it is in the public interest for the alien to receive asylum in the
United States, and that the alien therefore may apply for asylum,
withholding of removal, or protection under the Convention Against
Torture, in the United States.
(iv) If the asylum officer determines the alien meets an exception
under the applicable agreement, or would more likely than not be
persecuted on account of a protected ground or tortured in the
prospective receiving country, the officer may consider whether the
alien is subject to another agreement and its exceptions or would more
likely than not be persecuted on account of a protected ground or
tortured in another receiving country. If another section 208(a)(2)(A)
agreement may not be applied to the alien, the officer should
immediately proceed to a credible fear interview.
* * * * *
Christina E. McDonald,
Associate General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, U.S. Department of
Homeland Security.
Dated: April 11, 2023.
Rosemary Hart,
Special Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice.
[FR Doc. 2023-07966 Filed 4-14-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-97-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on April 17, 2023.
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