Latest Assault on Asylum: What Can You Do to Help Stop It?

The Trump administration has published a new rule that will effectively end the possibility of asylum for hundreds of thousands of people. Asylum is protection granted to persons forced to flee their home country due to persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Without asylum many of those who request it will suffer torture or death. Jefferson County Immigration Rights Advocates (JCIRA) strongly opposes the proposed rule and asks your help to influence our government to withdraw it.

The international community has long recognized the need for asylum. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent Conventions and Protocols obligate nations to grant asylum when justified and states that “no nation shall expel or return a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened.” These documents were signed by the United States but, to our shame, were never ratified by the Senate. Nevertheless, common decency and respect for the unalienable rights endowed on all human beings require that asylum applicants be given a fair and sympathetic hearing.

Unfortunately, this has not been the case in our country. People seeking asylum in the U.S. often receive hearings that are neither just nor compassionate. Now potential asylees may face an even more restrictive process. On June 15 the administration proposed the new rule titled “Procedures for Asylum and Withholding of Removal; Credible Fear and Reasonable Fear Review.”

This is the latest step in the apparent plan to slam the door on immigrants, even those who are victims of violence and threats of violence. It continues the administration’s efforts to limit immigration into the U.S. by specifically targeting those seeking refuge in our country through asylum. 

This is wrong.

If we allow this rule to take effect we will be turning our backs on those who seek and need our protection.

JCIRA objections include:

• It applies retroactively to all pending cases, not just to new applications filed after the eventual effective date of the proposed rule.
• It allows asylum officers, who are employed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and are not required to have earned law degrees, to deem affirmative asylum applications frivolous, and to do so based on a broader definition of “frivolous.”
• It changes the meaning of “persecution” by raising the current standard to a more restrictive one and declares that entire categories of violent conduct cannot constitute persecution no matter what.
• It redefines the term “firm resettlement” to mean that anyone who was ever in a third country at any time has actually resettled in that country regardless of intent, thus making the asylum claim invalid. For example, if a Guatemalan travels through Mexico in order to request asylum in the U.S. they will be rejected.
• It redefines “particular social group” in a way intentionally designed to block nearly all persons from Central America from ever being granted asylum.
• It redefines what it means to be persecuted “on account of political opinion,” so as to eliminate asylum claims based on opposition to gangs, such as MS-13 or Barrio-18.
• It bars all potential asylum applicants from ever introducing “evidence promoting cultural stereotypes about an individual or country.” For example, this would invalidate claims based on LGBTQ status in countries which execute such persons.
• It bans asylum for all persons who have ever failed to timely file a tax return or who have ever failed to report income, no matter how small.

JCIRA believes that asylum applicants must be given a fair hearing, must be treated with respect and understanding, and that the United States must return to its role as a refuge for those needing our help and protection. 

The proposed new rule is open for public comment until July 15. If you share JCIRA’s strong opposition to this proposed rule, please submit a comment expressing your opinion and feelings. You can read more about the proposed rule at the official Federal Register website, and can offer your comments by clicking on the green button labeled “Submit a Formal Comment.”

Writing Effective Comments

• How to Make Your Comments Count, by Jean
• ​Sample Asylum Comments
  

Further Reading

• Add Your Voice to Protect the American Asylum System! by Ray Garrido at Kitsap Immigrant Assistance Center
• Remarks on the Suspension of Due Process at the Border by Bishop Mark J. Seitz
• Halt Deportations & Save Asylum! by Latin America Working Group
• The Immigration Courts: Nothing Like What You Imagined (video)