New York, NY, September 30, 2024 — The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is deeply concerned following today’s announcement on extending asylum restrictions that would be made more difficult to unwind. The Biden Administration should reconsider and reverse these harmful restrictions that violate refugee law and are subject to ongoing legal challenges. These policies are undermining an orderly and humane asylum system. Further restricting the right to seek protection at the U.S. southern border is cruel and will result in more people returned to danger.
Hans Van de Weerd, IRC’s Senior Vice President for Resettlement, Asylum, and Integration, said:
“America’s asylum system needs upgrading to adapt to historic levels of global displacement and address the humanitarian challenges host communities face. Making it even harder to lift these misguided rules that have been deeply harmful to families and individuals seeking safety at the southern border is a profound mistake. Restricting the right to seek asylum violates U.S. refugee law and sends a counterproductive message to other countries hosting people seeking safety that refugees can be turned away at will.
“People seeking asylum in this country significantly contribute to American communities, including economically. They fill essential jobs, start new businesses, and pay taxes. These contributions are endangered under this counterproductive policy.
“The Biden administration should harness the ongoing efforts of federal, state, and local entities, nongovernmental organizations, and community groups and coordinate a strategy that would provide a safe, humane, and orderly reception process. It should continue to work under existing law to expand safe pathways to protection that can alleviate pressure at the southern border. Congress also needs to do its part by supporting border and interior communities with robust funding for reception and for a fair and timely asylum process that meets current forced displacement realities.”