The Justice Department’s own immigration court data proves the border turnaround is real: judges granted just 8.8 percent of asylum claims decided in the first half of FY 2026, down from nearly 46 percent two years ago, with protection grants at their lowest level in over a decade. Meritless claims that flooded the system under the last administration’s catch-and-release policies are finally being rejected.

But every bit of that progress rests on executive-branch decisions. Asylum standards have flipped back and forth with each change of administration, and they will flip again unless Congress writes them into law. H.R. 9773, the Permanent Trump Secure Border Act, would strengthen the credible fear standard, end catch-and-release, and close the parole and asylum loopholes that made the border crisis possible.

The Judiciary Committee has approved this legislation, and momentum is finally on the side of reform. Please support H.R. 9773 through the remaining committees and help pass it on the House floor. Americans deserve an immigration system that works for the American people — and that means one written in statute, not one that changes with every administration.

Greg Raven, Apple Valley, CA

Sent to:
Jay Obernolte