Vox Sentences - Biden's new asylum plan

The US announces a new asylum rule; North Korea launches a powerful new ICBM.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Maryam Gamar.

The US announces a major new asylum rule

Mario Tama/Getty Images

• Thursday, the Biden administration announced it will implement a new rule this spring aimed at reducing processing time for asylum seekers. [CBS News / Camilo Montoya-Galvez]

• The new rule applies to asylum seekers subject to "expedited removal" proceedings, which allow immigration officials to deport people without a hearing unless they prove “credible fear” of return to their country of origin. [The Hill / Rebecca Beitsch and Rafael Bernal]

• It will speed up the process by allowing asylum officers (instead of only judges) to decide whether to grant a migrant asylum or some other long-term legal protection. [CNN / Priscilla Alvarez].

• There’s a backlog of over 1.7 million asylum cases; the administration hopes the new rule will cut the asylum process from the current average of five years to six months. [New York Times / Eileen Sullivan]

• Although largely seen as an improvement over the current process, many questions remain, including whether the new rule violates asylum seekers’ due process, and if there’ll be enough asylum officers to handle demand. [Reuters / Ted Hesson]

North Korea launches its first missile in five years

• North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time since 2017 on Thursday, suddenly ending the ban on long-range tests it announced in 2018. [NYT / Choe Sang-Hun]

• The ICBM is believed to be the most powerful North Korea has launched: It traveled nearly 700 miles, landing about 100 miles west of Japan’s Oshima Peninsula [CNBC / Sam Meredith]

• South Korea responded to the launch with its own missile launches into the Sea of Japan. Japanese officials expressed anger at North Korea’s provocations amid the existing conflict in Ukraine. [The Guardian / Justin McCurry]

• Some experts believe the ICBM launch was meant to display a bargaining chip in any future discussions of lifting international sanctions on North Korea. [NBC News / Jennifer Jett, Stella Kim, and Arata Yamamoto]

• US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the launch at Thursday’s G-7 summit in Brussels and emphasized the need to hold North Korea accountable. [ABC News / Kim Tong-Hyung and Mari Yamaguchi]

Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed a bill banning abortion after six weeks and permitting citizens to sue providers that conduct the procedure after that time. [NBC News / Zoe Richards]

• Prince William addressed slavery in a speech in Jamaica Wednesday night as anti-monarchy protesters called for reparations. [CNN / Lauren Said-Moorhouse and Max Foster]

• At least five people were killed in Somalia in an attack by al-Qaeda-linked militant group al-Shabaab. [Al Jazeera]

• Several US airlines are calling on the White House to lift the mask mandate on travel in response to increased passenger pushback. [NBC News / Dareh Gregorian]

“At a time when the world is dealing with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, North Korea is pressing ahead with launches that unilaterally aggravate provocations against the international community, which is absolutely unforgivable.” 

[Japan’s deputy minister of defense, Makoto Oniki, on North Korea’s ICBM launch]

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