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Asylum Ban Regulation Betrays Vulnerable People and Violates U.S. Asylum Law
Posted on Sep 12 2019
September 12, 2019—Wednesday’s Supreme Court decision allows the Trump administration to basically end asylum at the southern border, in a deadly betrayal of U.S. law and international humanitarian principles. While a final decision on the asylum ban regulation is still months away, this decision will be a death sentence for many of the vulnerable asylum seekers now seeking safety.
The asylum ban regulation says that any asylum seekers who cross through a third country will be barred from applying for asylum in the United States.
“Barring asylum seekers is a gross violation of basic human rights and a violation of U.S. asylum law,” said Veena Iyer, executive director of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota. “Turning away persecuted asylum seekers in 2019 reminds us of our national shame in turning away 900 Jewish asylum seekers on the SS St. Louis in 1939. We are refusing to grant safe haven to people who will die because of our refusal.”
Among the asylum seekers now barred from the United States are:
- Venezuelans fleeing Maduro
- Nicaraguans fleeing government crackdowns
- Guatemalans and Hondurans and Salvadorans fleeing violence and persecution
- Transgender and LGBTQ people fleeing persecution.
U.S. asylum law says that time spent in a third country is only a bar to people who have passed through a designated “safe third country” or who have “firmly resettled” in a third country. Only Canada is officially designated as a “safe third country.” Neither Mexico nor any Central American country is designated as a “safe third country” for the very good reason that none of these countries is safe for asylum seekers.