Cruel policy is latest consequence of the Biden admin’s fundamental lack of vision
Washington, DC – In response to the asylum ban announced by President Biden on Monday, Oliver Merino, Coordinator for the Immigrant Justice Network, stated:
As a chorus of community voices across the country have made clear, President Biden’s draconian order will jeopardize the lives of people seeking freedom and safety.
The Biden Administration has sacrificed fundamental values – family, safety, and caring for others – all for the sake of a cheap talking point. At the end of the day, this policy will only serve to worsen abuses and injustice at the border.
Yet the problem did not begin on Monday. This de facto asylum ban is but the latest in a long string of broken promises and increasingly cruel measures that echo or entrench the harsh policies embraced by the previous administration.
Just last week, the Biden administration announced plans to increase prosecution of immigrants under a pair of laws originally passed by a white supremacist senator in the 1920’s. Studies have shown that these laws are not only racist in their origin, but also in their current impact, further fueling the mass incarceration of Black and brown people and adding layers of punishment onto populations already facing devastating civil immigration penalties.
We know that across the country, people are exhausted by political games and hungry for real solutions. This is in no small part due to the Biden administration’s failure to advance a proactive vision on immigration rooted in our values. Yet in communities throughout the country, successful, grassroots examples of welcoming and care for all, including immigrants, abound. The President must stop leaning into far-right policies and instead embrace such efforts.
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