U.S. POLICIES DANGEROUSLY RESTRICT ACCESS TO ASYLUM IN THE UNITED STATES.
“In the almost three years since President Donald Trump took office, the US asylum system has almost become unrecognizable. The administration has built up, layer by layer, a series of impediments in Central America, at the border, in detention centers, and in the immigration courts that have made obtaining asylum nearly impossible.” (Source: Vox, November 2019)
The asylum denial rate is growing. In recent years, 58% of asylum applications have been denied. In FY 2019, that number jumped to 69%. For individuals from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, the denial rate is 81%. (Source: TRAC, February 2020)
At least 138 people deported to El Salvador were murdered and more than 70 were sexually abused, tortured, or disappeared. (Source: NBC News/Human Rights Watch, February 2020)
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION iS USING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC TO TRY TO COMPLETELY END ASYLUM.
The Trump administration recently proposed yet another rule to gut the U.S. asylum system, citing coronavirus as an excuse. This new rule would make it nearly impossible for anyone fleeing violence and murder to obtain safety via asylum in the U.S. (Source: IIC)
Nevertheless, infectious disease experts say there is no public health rationale for the asylum ban. (Source: Just Security and Physicians for Human Rights)
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS COMMITTED CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY DURING THE PANDEMIC.
Deporting children alone, to countries where they have no one. (Source: IIC). Deporting individuals who contracted COVID-19 in immigration jail to other countries and spreading the virus. (Source: The New York Times). Allowing asylum-seekers to become infected with coronavirus in U.S. immigration jails, instead of releasing them. (Source: Center for Migration Studies).
These are just some of the crimes against humanity that the Trump administration has wrought during the 2020 pandemic.
THE U.S. GOVERNMENT HAS ALSO BEEN FORCING ASYLUM-SEEKERS TO REMAIN IN MEXICO OR APPLY FOR ASYLUM IN GUATEMALA, UNDER DANGEROUS CONDITIONS.
Since the creation of the “Remain in Mexico” policy in January 2019, more than 57,000 people have been forced to wait in Mexico for asylum hearings in the United States. (Source: Human Rights First, January 2020)
Many are homeless or living in unsanitary conditions. Organizations along the border are working tirelessly, with no government support, to try to meet their basic human needs.
At least 816 asylum-seekers have been raped, kidnapped, assaulted, and even murdered in Mexico, including 201 children. (Source: Human Rights First, January 2020) Only 4% of individuals subjected to Remain Mexico have lawyers. Less than 1% have won their cases. (Source: NPR, December 2019).
The administration policy requiring people to apply for asylum in countries of transit, before requesting protection from the United States, has led to the deportation of asylum-seekers from other countries to Guatemala, where they are being forced to make claims for protection. This is absurd, because Guatemala itself is sending thousands of asylum-seekers to the United States. (Source: Texas Public Radio, February 2020)
Read and share these infographics from Latin America Working Group.
Asylum-Seekers from across the globe tell their stories.
Read stories from asylum-seekers who have been subjected to remain in Mexico; forced into family separation; or journeyed from far-flung continents to get to the United States.
Engage with The Way of Asylum, a community experience of compassion and empathy inspired by the art of Michelina Nicotera-Taxiera, who created a moving interpretation of Stations of the Cross, a 14-step Catholic devotion that commemorates Jesus Christ’s last day on Earth as a man.
IIC partners assist asylum-seekers in the United States and abroad.
Attorneys and staff from JFON Michigan and Just Neighbors in Northern Virginia volunteered in Tijuana assisting asylum-seekers.
San Antonio JFON helped a young survivor of torture from Democratic Republic of the Congo find freedom and safety in the United States.
A JFON attorney wrote about her LGBTQ client held in immigration jail.
Christian Reformed Church in North America, Office of Social Justice spoke with asylum-seekers from Cuba over video.
news and updates
“An American Mother on Asylum: Trump’s New Rules Would Have Rewritten My Story.” (Ms. Magazine, July 2020)
“Closing the Door on Asylum.” (The Progressive, July 2020)
“339 Faith-Based Organizations and 1,356 Leaders Call for End to Anti-Immigrant ‘COVID’ Policies.” (IIC, June 2020)
“Supreme Court rules asylum seeker cannot challenge removal.” (CNN, June 2020)
“The end of asylum — for now.” (The Hill, June 2020)
“‘An Experience I Wouldn’t Wish My Worst Enemy to Undergo’ – In ICE detention for more than two years, a man from Cameroon pens a plea for mercy.” (The Nation, May 2020)
“Inside an ICE facility in Louisiana, detainees say ICE is depriving them of masks, under-testing for COVID-19, and moving migrants around the country.” (Business Insider, May 2020)
“More than two-thirds of migrants fleeing Central American region had family taken or killed.” (The Guardian, February 2020)
“More Than 600 Asylum Seekers Have Been Sent to Guatemala Under Trump Policy.” (Texas Public Radio, February 2020)
“Faith groups protest asylum seeker policy.” (KVEO-TV, February 2020)
“Record Number of Asylum Cases in FY 2019.” (TRAC, February 2020)
“Hundreds deported from U.S. to El Salvador have been killed or abused, new report says.” (NBC News, February 2020)
“A year of Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP)/Remain in Mexico policy is a year of attacks, robberies, kidnappings, rapes, and even murders—all due to a U.S. government policy. On January 29, 2020 groups across the United States and in Mexico held demonstrations, prayer vigils, and other actions to demand an end to this program that endangers, rather than “protects,” migrants’ lives. (Interfaith Immigration Coalition, January 2020)
A look inside the administration’s “tent courts” for asylum-seekers along the U.S./Mexico border. (The Guardian, January 2020)
Melissa Stek from the CRCNA Office of Social Justice explains that “Requesting Asylum in the United States Is Following the Law.” (Medium, January 2020)
The House Judiciary Committee plans to investigate the Department of Homeland Security’s Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) policy. (The Hill, January 2020)
Some U.S. asylum officers refuse to implement anti-asylum policies. (Los Angeles Times, November 2019)