Maritime on CrossGov.com

CRS Report on Credible Fear and Defensive Asylum Processes, Frequently Asked Questions

Fri, 30 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A Congressional Research Service report examined credible fear and defensive asylum processes for non-U.S. nationals seeking removal from the United States. The report detailed how asylum can be granted based on persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution. It also reviewed the expedited removal process and credible fear screenings used during these proceedings.

Asylum and Removal Processes

Non-U.S. nationals may seek asylum during standard or expedited removal processes. Asylum is granted to individuals unable or unwilling to return due to persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution based on specific grounds. The Department of Homeland Security charges aliens with immigration violations and processes them for removal. Aliens in removal proceedings can apply for asylum, withholding of removal, or protection from removal under the Convention Against Torture. Section 235(b) of the INA allows for an expedited removal process if an alien lacks valid documents or used fraud. During expedited removal, individuals expressing fear of persecution may undergo credible fear screenings.

Pentagon Clears a Second Destroyer for Bath Iron Works, Reversing Its Own FY2027 Budget Three Weeks Before Collins's Election

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Pentagon has approved a second Arleigh Burke-class destroyer for General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works in Maine, Roll Call reported on October 13. The fiscal 2027 budget request had funded only one destroyer, within a $65.8 billion shipbuilding request. Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg said the yard had shown that “sustained performance is essential.”

The decision still needs money from Congress. The House defense appropriations subcommittee’s bill includes one destroyer. The Senate hasn’t released its bill.

CENTCOM Disables Cargo Ship Ocean Molica in the Gulf of Oman as the Resumed Iran Blockade Turns Back 135 Ships in Three Months

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On October 10 a US fighter jet hit the stern of the Panama-flagged cargo ship Ocean Molica, also known as Arika Sun, with a precision munition in the Gulf of Oman. Central Command says the strike knocked out the ship’s propulsion without harming the crew. The vessel had left an Iranian port, and its crew had ignored repeated warnings to turn back.

It’s the fourth commercial ship US forces have disabled since the blockade of Iranian ports resumed on July 14. CENTCOM’s count for those three months: 135 ships turned around and 10 tankers destroyed that it links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ shadow shipping network.

US Shipbuilding Push Rides on the NDAA: SHIPS Act Provisions, a $20 Billion Trust Fund and Korea's $150 Billion Pledge

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The US builds less than 1% of the world’s new commercial ships, the White House says in its Maritime Action Plan, published in February 2026. Most of what the plan proposes to change that needs Congress, and the bill now carrying it is the stalled fiscal 2027 defense authorization act.

On October 9 the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department asked senators to sign a letter, led by Senators Todd Young and Mark Kelly and Representatives Trent Kelly and John Garamendi, urging congressional leaders to keep the SHIPS for America Act’s provisions in the final NDAA. The deadline to sign is October 16.

USTR's Port Fees on Chinese Ships Are Still Set to Return November 10, Though Treasury Says the Truce Runs to January

Fri, 02 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Office of the US Trade Representative’s fees on Chinese-built and Chinese-operated ships are suspended only until 11:59 pm on November 9, 2026. That date is set in a USTR notice published last November. On September 23 Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the wider US-China truce would run to January 10, 2027. USTR hasn’t published anything to match.

The two dates are now about two months apart. Shipping lines, importers and charterers are pricing voyages that will arrive after November 9, and the only legal text in force says the fees come back the next morning.

CBO Prices the Navy's Battleship Program at $275 Billion for 15 Ships, With the Lead Ship at $23 Billion

Sun, 13 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

CBO estimates the Navy’s planned nuclear-powered battleships would cost about $275 billion in 2026 dollars for 15 ships bought between 2028 and 2056. Its report, published on August 5, puts the lead ship at $23.4 billion and the rest at about $18 billion each.

The Navy’s own budget put the lead ship at $15.1 billion. That figure was for a conventionally powered ship, and the Navy has since chosen nuclear propulsion. The gap between the two numbers is the first thing Congress will have to settle before it pays for the ship.

Coast Guard Orders 11 Arctic Security Cutters for $6.8 Billion While GAO Puts the First Polar Security Cutter at 2033

Sat, 12 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The US Coast Guard has now signed fixed-price contracts for 11 medium icebreakers, the Arctic Security Cutters, worth about $6.8 billion together. The first is due in 2028. Its heavy icebreaker, the Polar Security Cutter, was ordered in 2019 and GAO now expects the first one in 2033.

The two programs run side by side at the same Gulf Coast shipbuilder, Bollinger. One was designed and built from scratch in the US and has slipped nine years. The other uses a Finnish-Canadian design, with four of the first six hulls built in Finland, and is meant to skip the learning curve.