Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department made a joint announcement on expanded legal pathways and refugee processing. However, this announcement was coupled with intentions to move forward with the proposed asylum transit ban, limited appointments through the CBP One app, inequitable access issues, and more anti-immigrant policies.
“Punishing asylum seekers with deportation and banishment for pursuing safety through an internationally-recognized and protected pathway will surely lead to their harm and leave us in breach of our moral and legal obligations. While we welcome the announced expansion to refugee admissions and the creation of new pathways to protection for people from Central and South America, we are deeply concerned that the Biden Administration is doubling down on its limitations for seeking asylum, a human right that is recognized by both domestic and international law. Additionally, we find framing the refugee program as a tool to help manage border migration particularly harmful and politically wrought. As President Biden reminded us on World Refugee Day, ‘as Americans, protecting and welcoming refugees is part of who we are.’”
- Priscilla Orta, Supervising Attorney for Lawyers for Good Government’s Project Corazon