What You Need to Know About the Recent Attacks on Asylum
By Emma Kahn, Detention Program Coordinator/ Legal Assistant
In the past two years alone, we’ve seen dozens of changes to the law that have devastated individuals and families fleeing persecution. These upheavals have ranged from blanket asylum bans for anyone who passed through a third country on their way to the US without seeking asylum in that country, to the Migrant Protection Protocols (aka the “Remain in Mexico” program), which still forces families to wait out the entirety of their 1-2 year asylum cases in Mexico.
The Trump Administration has launched three attacks on the system since the start of COVID-19 — which has already created an incredibly vulnerable time for undocumented individuals — in addition to generally restricting entries at the border.
The first of these changes is that, beginning on August 25th, asylum seekers will be forced to wait at least 365 days after filing their asylum applications to apply for a work permit (as opposed to the 180-day rule currently in place). Much like the asylum application fee that is set to roll out in October, this is an explicit attempt to disempower asylum seekers by restricting their ability to pursue economic independence. A second new regulation was proposed that would categorically bar most asylum seekers from any protections if they show any symptoms consistent with COVID-19, if they have “come into contact” with the virus, or if they have fled from or passed through a country where the disease is present. As our friends at the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies have pointed out, “Disturbingly, this bar could apply to asylum seekers who have been exposed to COVID-19 while in the United States, even if they were exposed to the virus in ICE detention as a result of the administration’s failure to maintain safe and sanitary facilities.”
The third, and perhaps most consequential, was the June 15th proposed rule that would gut protections for nearly all asylum seekers. This proposed change would extensively undercut the law, changing the legal definition of “refugee” in such a way that it would virtually exclude survivors of domestic violence, children and families facing gang violence, and LGBTQ people persecuted for their sexual orientation or gender identity. It also would ensure that most asylum seekers be immediately turned away at the border without the chance to see a judge. The 80,000+ comments submitted in opposition to this rule by concerned community members like you all will hopefully delay and alter its final implementation.
At NMILC, our detention and asylum teams have worked incredibly hard to adapt to these rapid legal and procedural changes– not the least of which includes transitioning all services into remote work at the end of March. Since the start of COVID-19, these teams have been able to remotely assist over 300 detainees and 60 non-detained asylum seekers with their legal proceedings. Our teams have created systems for identifying folks in detention at increased risk for COVID-19 and providing them with rapid, relevant assistance and referrals, in addition to closely tracking Torrance’s and Cibola’s operational responses to COVID. They continue to collaborate with legal services providers in the greater El Paso area and around the country to advocate fiercely and inexorably for the immigrant community of New Mexicans.
