Tell the Biden Administration to Protect the Right to Seek Asylum | Physicians for Human Rights

Tell the Biden Administration to Protect the Right to Seek Asylum

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In July 2023, we welcomed the decision by the United States District Court in the Northern District of California to strike down the Biden administration’s inhumane new asylum policy as unlawful.

Now, we urge the administration to withdraw its recently filed appeal and accept the court’s decision as final.

In just two months since its implementation, the asylum ban has stranded vulnerable people in parts of Mexico where they are targets of kidnapping and violent assaults, and deported many without meaningful access to counsel, despite potential eligibility for asylum under U.S. law. Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and LGBTQ+ people waiting to seek asylum in the U.S. – as well as those without financial resources – face particular and egregious barriers, dangers, and disparities in seeking asylum due to the asylum ban.

We’re calling on the Biden administration to rescind this new asylum ban that unlawfully denies people from seeking asylum on U.S. soil. Will you add your name to our call for action?

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Your Message
Stop banning people from seeking asylum on U.S. soil
To the Biden Administration:

I’m writing today out of concern over your new asylum ban that presumptively denies individuals the right to claim asylum or other forms of protection on U.S. soil. Your new policy denies this right at any coastal border or near the US-Mexico border, unless they have prearranged a specific time and location to present at a port of entry through CBP One, a mobile application, sought protection from another country they have passed through, or they qualify under exceptional circumstances that have been extremely narrowly defined.

The United States is the largest recipient of asylum claims among industrialized nations. Victims of persecution and torture who come to this country may apply for asylum and protection under the UN Convention against Torture in order to remain legally and avoid deportation to countries where they may be harmed.

In just two months since its implementation, the ban has stranded vulnerable people in parts of Mexico where they are targets of kidnapping and violent assaults, rigged the credible fear process against people seeking asylum, and deported many without meaningful access to counsel, despite potential eligibility for asylum under U.S. law. Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and LGBTQ+ people waiting to seek asylum in the U.S. – as well as those without financial resources – face particular and egregious barriers, dangers, and disparities in seeking asylum due to the ban, which has already been ruled as unlawful by the United States District Court in the Northern District of California

U.S. immigration law is replete with unduly harsh consequences. Imposing punishments on vulnerable people who may be eligible for asylum under our laws is inhumane and bolsters xenophobic narratives that falsely paint people seeking asylum as threats.

I urge you to withdraw your recently filed appeal and accept the court’s decision as final, rescinding this new asylum ban that presumptively denies people from seeking asylum on U.S. soil.

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]