FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 1, 2024
CONTACT: Madison Allman | press@acaciajustice.org
WASHINGTON –Megan Mack, federal policy director of the Acacia Center for Justice, issued the following statement in response to the Biden administration’s move to permanently implement asylum restrictions at the border:
“There is no moral or legal justification for stripping away the human right to seek asylum and subjecting communities to aggressive enforcement tactics that trap people in unsafe conditions in Mexico. These policies will disproportionately harm Black and Indigenous asylum seekers and other marginalized groups. As experts and practitioners, we know these deterrence tactics do nothing to fix our nation’s outdated immigration system nor the country conditions that force people to flee their points of origin.
“The Biden administration’s decision to codify these quotas and restrictions undermines the international commitment to protect refugees and uphold the rights of all people at risk of persecution and is a purposeful move to sidestep the due process protections enshrined in our constitution to ensure decision making on life and death matters – like asylum – are not performed in an ad-hoc manner by ill-informed officials.
“The decision to double down on this draconian ban must not be the Biden administration’s legacy. We call on the administration to immediately reverse course and instead enact policies that welcome people seeking safety with compassion and dignity.”
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