Developments at U.S.-Mexico Border
How U.S. Is Undermining Asylum Law at Home and Criminalizing Asylum Seekers
Youth from New York
participate in protest in Washington, DC, February 15, 2024,
demanding
Ceasefire
Now! and permanent protection for immigrant rights and
end to border militarization.
President Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and others are promoting the idea that there is a surge of "illegal immigrants" crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. In fact, there is a large increase in people legally seeking asylum. Many are refugees fleeing violence and threats at home, largely imposed by the U.S. It is legal for people seeking asylum to cross the border at any point. They are not required to cross at a port of entry. They can cross at any point, as long as they then make a claim for asylum to a federal authority, like Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This is what the vast majority of people, including women and children, are doing, and why the government has a record of them. The U.S. is obligated to review such claims and has a system, including immigration judges, in place for this.
One main way it is undermining asylum law is by "fast-tracking" claims, using limited or no judicial review. This is leading to unjust and illegal detentions and deportations, including tens of thousands of children.
Another main way asylum law is being undermined is to arbitrarily change and raise the requirements to be granted asylum. International law, including the United Nations 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol, specifies the standards. They define a refugee as a person who is unable or unwilling to return to their home country, and cannot obtain protection in that country, due to past persecution or a well-founded fear of being persecuted in the future "on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion."
Congress incorporated this definition into U.S. immigration law in the Refugee Act of 1980. The U.S. has been undermining or eliminating the standard for what constitutes persecution and "a well-founded fear." This includes arbitrarily increasing what is demanded to show a well-founded fear, such as unattainable documentation or unavailable witnesses, etc. Decisions concerning a "well-founded fear" are already relatively arbitrary in that it is a judgement call. Placing such judgement in the hands of an asylum officer or Border Patrol, and not an immigration judge, further undermines existing law and allows for greater impunity.
Migrants
wait in Cuidad Juárez in Mexico waiting to cross into
the U.S.,
December 20, 2023
The U.S. has also been undermining existing U.S. law by increasing and expanding detention of refugees, including families and unaccompanied minors (16 and under). ICE is not supposed to hold refugees with asylum claims for more than 72 hours, after which they are to be turned over to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). ORR then has responsibility to find shelter and assistance. Instead, families and children are being forced into detention centers that do not meet minimum standards of care, despite efforts of local nurses and surrounding communities to provide for them. Detention involves civil, not criminal law, but refugees are treated like criminals and effectively imprisoned, further undermining their legal and human rights.
As part of a recently released Senate supplemental funding bill for Ukraine and Israel, the Senate specifically extends the criminalization of refugees further. While the latest $95 billion bill funding Israel and Ukraine passed the Senate without the immigration content, the House is insisting on including it and so far, refuses to pass the war funding bill without it.
The bills under discussion expand illegal U.S. refusals to hear claims. They arbitrarily expel people seeking asylum with no review of their claims. According to the provisions being introduced, whenever the number of refugee crossings between ports of entry averages more than 5,000 in a week or 8,500 in a single day, people will be automatically expelled with no review of their claim -- something the U.S. is legally obligated to do. The proposals also eliminate longstanding due process protections for those in the country, like court review of asylum cases. Far from removing criminalization, the various plans greatly increase funding for ICE detention, such as one providing $3.2 billion dollars for expanded detention capacity, $2.5 billion for "staging facilities," for deportations and $1.12 billion for hiring additional ICE and CBP officers. Content for the current proposals comes mainly from Biden and New York Senator Chuck Schumer.
(Voice of Revolution)
This article was published in
Volume 54 Number 14 - February 28, 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS541413.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca