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Oppose Administration Plan to End Asylum

Posted on Jun 29 2020

The Trump administration cannot unilaterally revoke the U.S. asylum law, which offers protection to people fleeing persecution, but it is moving as close to that goal as possible through executive orders and regulations. The latest regulation, proposed on June 15, and with a comment period ending July 15, comes close. As described by CLINIC, this regulation would effectively eliminate most asylum protections by:

• “Raising the bar and standard people must meet when they first arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border, and further restricting protection for those who have or would be tortured: Under the proposal, many who cannot immediately show their need for protection and meet this higher standard will not be allowed to proceed in their case. This raised bar callously disregards the realities of people seeking protection. Asylum seekers may have been forced to flee at a moment’s notice, unable to take anything with them. Some have experienced difficult journeys without access to food, water, shelter or health care supplies. Others may be experiencing the physical, mental and emotional manifestations of trauma. To expect asylum seekers to immediately be able to meet a heightened standard is unrealistic and unconscionable.
• “Essentially eliminating protection for people fleeing violence from non-state actors, disregarding the law: The rule also seeks to redefine the definitions of some of the grounds for asylum — belonging to a “particular social group” and holding a “political opinion” — in order to eliminate access for anyone in need of safety from a non-government actor, such as a gang member (or gangs) or an intimate partner or family member. This rule is clearly calculated to prevent asylum seekers from Central America from being granted protection. Reports show that those who do not receive protection are often returned to their death at the hands of the gangs they fled. This rule would also outrightly ban asylum on all gender-based asylum claims.
• “Requiring adjudicators to consider factors irrelevant to a person’s need for protection as reasons to deny asylum: Under the rule, adjudicators would have to consider (with a negative weight) if an asylum seeker entered between ports of entry and in most instances, deny applications for those who have traveled through third countries on their journey to the United States. This attempts to make an end run around the federal courts, which are currently evaluating these issues and have not yet decided whether denying people for these reasons is legal. The rule also permits people to be denied asylum for other reasons that have nothing to do with their need for protection, such as paying taxes in the United States.
• “Eviscerating due process and fairness for asylum seekers: The proposed rule strips away the due process rights of asylum seekers by permitting judges to deny meritorious asylum cases before asylum seekers have had the chance to present their full case in court.”

The normal 60-day comment period has been shortened to just 30 days. You can register your opposition to this travesty by submitting a comment to the Federal Register before July 15.

You can take action today to oppose the Trump administration’s latest proposed regulation blocking asylum seekers. The Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) has a click-to-comment page—take a look at the comment posted there and then add, subtract, and change to make it your own.