Press Release
Published on July 12, 2023
WASHINGTON – Two months into the Biden administration’s asylum ban, Human Rights First today released “Refugee Protection Travesty: Biden Asylum Ban Endangers and Punishes At-Risk Asylum Seekers,” a report which outlines ways in which the ban is a refugee protection, humanitarian, and legal travesty that puts human lives at risk.
“Over the last two months, we interviewed more than 300 people seeking asylum in five Mexican cities across the southwest border. Their testimonies are devastating, and the findings are clear: The illegal Biden asylum ban threatens the lives of vulnerable children and adults fleeing persecution forcing them to remain trapped for months in Mexico where they are targeted for kidnapping, rape, and exploitation while placing themselves at the mercy of the glitchy, inequitable CBP One app,” said . “The ban violates core principles of refugee law by punishing and denying asylum protection to people in dire need of safety regardless of their eligibility under U.S. law, deporting them to danger. A ban that circumvents U.S. and international , leaves stranded people at risk of harm at our doorstep and returns refugees to persecution cannot be touted as a success and must be rescinded immediately.”
Key findings of the report include:
The report recommends, among other measures, that the Biden administration immediately end and rescind its asylum ban, which received widespread opposition and which U.S. agencies have stated is a “temporary” measure and subject to review.
