On June 4th, President Biden issued executive orders to severely curve the right of people to legally petition for asylum at the U.S. border. This will put migrants and their families in danger by forcing them to return to countries where they face persecution, danger, and death.
Automatically Closing the Border: The President’s executive order requires the shutdown of the border to anyone legally seeking asylum – even at legal ports of entry – when Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) detains 2,500 people in one calendar day. If this arbitrary number had been implemented earlier, the border would have been shut to legal asylum seekers for the last 41 months (about 3.5 years)! This is a clear violation of the 1980 Refugee Act, the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention, and the 1967 Protocols to the Refugee Convention – all agreements created in response to the failure to protect people during World War II and other events like the failure to protect many Vietnam refugees after the Vietnam War.
Indefinite Closure of the Border: The executive order closes the border until the weekly average apprehensions at the border drops below 1,500. An analysis by the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) found that if this rule had been in place, the US Government would have closed the border for 110 months (about 9 years) of the last 296 months (about the last 24 and a half years).
Deterrence Does Not Work: People fleeing for their lives cannot be “deterred” by cruel policies. Limiting access to asylum and punishing refugees forces people to take dangerous routes to find safety. People are not choosing to move voluntarily; they are being pushed out.
The Same Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric of the Past: The President’s executive order mirrors previous anti-immigrant rhetoric from the Trump Administration. In fact, President Biden has cited the same law (Immigration and Nationality Act section 212(f)) that the Trump Administration used to justify the racist Muslim and African Bans.
Who is Allowed In? The executive order does not apply to unaccompanied minors and people who are Green Card & Visa Holders. However, for everyone else, they must use the CBP One app to make an appointment, an app that immigrant rights advocates have indicated has been a significant barrier for migrants and forces people to stay in dangerous parts of Mexico while they wait for their appointments.
What other impacts can we expect? Closing the border to adults and in-tact families seeking asylum will again create an incentive for parents to send their children across the border alone. This already happened under the “Remain in Mexico” protocol, increasing the separation of families and the reliance on smugglers and human traffickers. Another example of a policy doing the reverse of its stated objectives.
Please urge President Biden to fulfill his campaign promise to have more humane immigration policies. As people of faith, we are called to welcome the stranger and treat our neighbor as ourselves. We must not turn our backs on those fleeing persecution. Welcoming and just policies toward immigrants make our nation stronger.