Six Weeks After Biden's Asylum Ban: Rampant Rights Violations at the U.S.-Mexico Border
The National Immigrant Justice Center, alongside other national and border organizations, released a new report detailing the egregious due process and human rights violations at the U.S.-Mexico border in the first six weeks of the Biden administration’s asylum ban and Interim Final Rule (IFR).
One man, who entered the United States with his partner and 11-month-old son, told advocates that he explained to an immigration officer that he had been kidnapped and tortured by organized crime and showed them the marks on his body, but the agents told him “There is no asylum anymore, we don't care.”
Some of the most frequent violations include:
People with valid claims of fear being deported without so much as an initial asylum screening known as a Credible Fear Interview (CFI) — even when they proactively express fear as required under the new rule.
A new, higher legal standard for CFIs that means people who previously qualified for protection are now returned to harm.
Significant barriers to accessing legal counsel or aid while in detention, even for people who do receive a CFI, meaning they have no guidance to help them prepare for their interview or inform them of their rights.
Arriving families facing confusing possibilities for how they can be processed by CBP at the border, resulting in family separations.
Families and single adults facing prolonged detention in custody under inhumane conditions.
Mexican asylum seekers being trapped in their own country where they fear persecution and deports third-country nationals to the custody of Mexican immigration enforcement.
Asylum seekers who are immediately deported under the ban and being given no little-to-no documentation regarding their cases before they are deported.
Illegally limiting access to asylum to those able to secure an appointment using a defective smartphone application.
Vulnerable asylum seekers with urgent safety and medical needs, who should qualify for the ban’s exceptions, facing nearly impossible challenges accessing ports of entry to the U.S.
In Texas, “Operation Lone Star” preventing families from reaching border agents to proactively express fear, further restricting the ban’s access to asylum.
A lawsuit has been filed by Immigrant rights organizations challenging the new asylum ban, arguing that it closely mirrors the asylum ban that the Trump administration imposed in 2018, which multiple courts invalidated as illegal. For the time being, the newest asylum ban remains in action pending this lawsuit.
Published July 25, 2024