The Young Center Stands in Opposition to the Proposed Asylum Ban
Washington, DC- On March 27, the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights submitted a comment in opposition to the Biden administration’s proposed asylum ban, which threatens to bar access to asylum for many, if not most, families and adults seeking protection at the U.S. southern border.
While the 30-day timeframe in which to submit a comment presented an unrealistic time frame in which to present a comment, our submission focused on how:
The proposed rule undermines children’s safety and well-being—their best interests—by denying children and families the right to apply for asylum in violation of their rights under U.S. and international asylum law.
The proposed rule denies children in families a full and fair opportunity to be heard on their claims for protection and thereby fails to ensure due process by expanding the use of the expedited removal process, which gives asylum-seeking children and families just a short window of time to make their claim for protection before being fast-tracked for deportation, without consideration for the unique needs of children or having enough time to find legal counsel and adequately prepare their cases.
The detention of children and families is inhumane and should not be employed as part of the implementation of this rule or any other immigration policies. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is considering implementing this proposed rule in conjunction with an expansion or resurrection of the government’s practice of detaining families in ICE or CBP facilities, contrary to promises made by the administration to end the detention of immigrant families .
The proposed rule would undermine children’s best interests by fueling family separations by forcing parents to “choose” between remaining with their children in dangerous conditions or separating from them in hopes that the children will find safety if they approach the border unaccompanied.
Requiring asylum-seekers to schedule appointments to access ports of entry through the CBP One app is unfair and contravenes asylum law. CBP One is impossible for many asylum-seekers to access or use. Many asylum-seekers do not have the resources to obtain a smartphone, and the required data or Wifi to navigate the app. Additionally, the app is not available in Indigenous languages, and all error messages are in English, barring many asylum-seekers from being able to understand where they stand. The app has also disparately harmed Black asylum-seekers due to racial bias in its facial recognition technology, which has prevented many from obtaining an appointment. Throughout, asylum-seekers are forced to wait in unsafe conditions while their applications are being processed.
By targeting asylum-seekers at the U.S. southern border, the proposed rule is discriminatory and would disproportionately harm Latinx, Indigenous, Black, and LGBTQ asylum-seekers, including many children, who represent the vast majority of asylum-seekers seeking protection at the southern border.
The Young Center opposes the adoption of any rule that bars or in any way limits children’s access to legal relief that protects their safety and well-being, significantly risks returning them to danger and violence, and fails to treat children as children. We strongly urge DHS and DOJ to rescind the proposed rule in its entirety.