Human Rights First Publishes a Report on the Biden Asylum Ban

Human Rights First released a new report by Eleanor Acer, Christina Asencio, and Rebecca Gendelman this week: “Refugee Protection Travesty: Biden Asylum Ban Endangers and Punishes At-Risk Asylum Seekers.”

The report analyzes the ways in which President Biden administration’s asylum ban violates basic principles of human rights laws and puts lives at risk.

Key findings of the report include:

• The asylum ban endangers the lives of thousands of at-risk asylum-seeking children, families, and adults waiting in Mexico for limited CBP One appointments
• The asylum ban rigs the expedited removal and credible fear processes against people seeking asylum, with pass rates plummeting by 45%
• People waiting to seek asylum overwhelmingly did not know about the Biden asylum ban nor understand the penalties it inflicts, contrary to government assertions touting the ban as a key factor in lowered border apprehension rates
• People seeking asylum face unlawful, accompanying barriers to access U.S. ports of entry including limited and inequitable access to CBP One appointments and actions by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Mexican authorities to illegally turn away or meter people without appointments.
• Black, Indigenous, LGBTQ+ people, and those without financial resources face particular difficulties, dangers, and disparities when seeking asylum under the new process established by the Biden asylum ban
• People waiting to seek asylum are forced to endure inhumane standards of shelter, safety, water, sanitation, and hygiene even in extreme summer heat.

The report recommends, among other measures, that the Biden administration immediately end and rescind its asylum ban, which received widespread opposition and which U.S. agencies have stated is a “temporary” measure and subject to review.

IE