Mr. President. I am offering this amendment at the suggestion of officials in the Department of State to allow asylum proceedings to be closed unless the asylum applicant wishes to have them open to the public. This is necessary. Mr. President. to protect asylum applicants. They are seeking asylum precisely because they fear persecution in their native landsmany at the hands of their governments. To force them to state in public their grounds for seeking asylum may have serious consequences for their families who remain behind as well as to themselves. There is no effort here restricting the asylum process. or to shroud it in secrecy. If an applicant desires. for any reason. to have the asylum hearing open. he can do so. Mr.
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