President Demonizes Asylum System at MS-13 Roundtable

Washington, D.C.—In response to remarks made by President Trump at a roundtable on MS-13, Human Rights First’s Jennifer Quigley issued the following response:

“President Trump continues to falsely portray the U.S. asylum system as some kind of loophole that allows dangerous individuals to enter the United States, when in fact nothing can be further from the truth; those who turn to this country for protection from persecution are often the vulnerable individuals who are fleeing gang violence in their own country. Asylum seekers go through a long, complex process filled with safeguards against fraud before they are finally able to rebuild their lives in safety. By peddling the misleading narrative that asylum seekers are gang members and loopholes, the president threatens the lives of thousands of desperate individuals and betrays our country’s greatest strength.”

Resources

The Path to Asylum
The U.S. Asylum Process 
How Refugees Get to the U.S.