FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 8, 2023
CONTACT: Madison Allman | press@acaciajustice.org
[WASHINGTON] – Shaina Aber, Executive Director of the Acacia Center for Justice, an immigrants’ rights organization that supports and coordinates a portfolio of national and state programs delivering legal services and representation to immigrants at risk of deportation and detention, issued the following statement in response to reports that the Biden administration is considering further limits to our asylum system in exchange for aid to Ukraine:
“The Biden administration should not be engaging in shortsighted negotiations that will irrevocably harm our nation’s life-saving asylum system and expand expedited removal to roundup people for fast-track deportations. Nationwide expedited removal would be dangerous for all immigrant communities in the United States and represent an end run around due process protections that have been enshrined in our constitution to ensure decision making on life and death matters are not performed in an ad hoc manner by ill-informed officials. This move will also endanger people who are simply perceived as immigrants because of their race or color of their skin.
“There is no reason to negotiate away the human and legal right to seek asylum and subject communities, particularly Black and Brown communities, to aggressive racial profiling and enforcement tactics. Doing so undermines the Biden administration’s commitments to creating a humane and just immigration system. We call on Congress and the White House to immediately reverse course and treat any proposal that would undermine our nation’s asylum laws and treaty obligations as a non-starter. Instead, our leaders must work together to enact policies that welcome people seeking safety with compassion and dignity.”
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