African Human Rights Coalition is extremely disturbed by the reports that the Biden administration is considering new restrictions on asylum and expanded deportation processes in an effort to reach an agreement to keep funding for Israel and Ukraine in a supplemental funding bill. This is an outrageous quid pro quo and asylum seekers should not bear the brunt of Republican ineptness in providing critical foreign policy funding.
The current trade off proposal by the Biden administration to secure funding for Isael and Ukraine cannot be at the expense of our asylum laws and policy.
The changes reportedly under discussion include placing a cap on asylum seekers; instituting a third-country transit ban for those seeking protection at the border; and making it much more difficult for applicants to apply for asylum based on how they entered the country, rather than on whether they are deserving of protection under the law. This is unacceptable and we must introduce. It is time for Immigration reform instead of being held hostage by the Republicans to dismantling our existing asylum laws in exchange for providing funding relief to countries where it is justified.
AHRC urges the Biden admin to NOT allow the use of asylum seekers as political pawns, and to ensure we do not set such an unjust precedent. Providing asylum for those seeking safety in this country is a duty and obligation that is separate from our other global interests and obligations and it must stay that way. The dangerous proposal is morally untenable. We cannot allow Republicans to hold asylum policy hostage in this fashion. We cannot agree to expend asylum seekers during a time when so many migrants are forcibly displaced and in life or death crisis.
The Biden Harris administration and the U.S. Congress must not offset asylum crisis against the justifiable need for aid by Israel and Ukraine. How can we allow the needs of those countries to override our obligations to asylum seekers? It is an unconscionable and morally offensive ask on the part of Republicans.
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