RAICES DENOUNCES RECENT ‘ASYLUM BAN’ FINAL RULE AIMED AT ARBITRARILY SHUTTING DOWN ACCESS TO ASYLUM INDEFINITELY — EVEN TO CHILDREN
San Antonio, TX — This week, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced its update to the June 2024 “Securing the Border” rule, severely restricting eligibility for and access to asylum for people and families seeking safety along the U.S.-Mexico border. Effective today, the updated rule ensures that these restrictions on asylum would be nearly impossible to lift by mandating that daily encounters fall to under 1,500 per day for 28 consecutive days rather than seven. DHS will now also include all unaccompanied children in the calculation of encounters to determine daily averages.
This latest update to the June 2024 Presidential Proclamation is yet another example of restrictive and draconian anti-asylum policies championed by the Biden Administration. The administration is seeking to codify the most horrific parts of the failed bipartisan immigration bill — which would have been one of the most sweeping, restrictive anti-immigrant policies of our generation.
“It has become increasingly clear that the current administration is fueling a sociopolitical climate aggressively hostile towards all immigrant, refugee, and asylum-seeking people and families by enacting harmful policies that turn our backs to international human rights laws,” says Faisal Al-Juburi, Chief External Affairs Officer at RAICES. “This updated rule does nothing more than piece together procedural thresholds that are not rooted in any methodology. Rather, they only serve to position unaccompanied children amidst the crossfires of the fight on border policy reforms — and to render it nearly impossible for people and families to find viable pathways to safety in the U.S.”
We urge the Biden Administration to restore asylum access in the U.S. by defending rather than denying the equitable application of federal and international law.
RAICES, formally known as the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Headquartered in Texas and with national reach, RAICES promotes migrant justice by providing legal services, social services case management, and rights advocacy for immigrant,refugee, and asylum-seeking people and families. Learn more at raicestexas.org and follow us on Instagram.
