FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 29, 2023
Contact: bethelhem T. Negash, bethelhem@undocublack.org
WASHINGTON D.C – As a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators continue negotiations on President Biden's supplemental funding request this week, the UndocuBlack Network urges lawmakers to safeguard critical asylum protections. As discussions on funding for Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel are underway, lawmakers are taking this as an opportunity to destroy the right to asylum permanently.
The negotiations include the resumption of border wall construction, which would increase the surveillance and long-standing monitoring and criminalization of Black asylum seekers. Another dangerous provision of the ongoing negotiations is the potential implementation of the "safe third country" rule, which would render migrants who transited through another country before getting to the U.S. border, ineligible for asylum.
Patrice Lawrence, Executive Director of UndocuBlack Network said “ It is disgraceful to have to implore lawmakers to do the bare minimum act of protecting the right to asylum. Taking actions to safeguard and fortify asylum protections for those fleeing harm and violence should be glaringly obvious. Doing so is inherently humane and simply put, the right thing to do. Repeatedly, lawmakers recklessly jeopardize the lives of migrants seeking refuge and asylum by introducing policies that disproportionately harm our communities.This is especially true for Black migrants, who undoubtedly already carry the heaviest brunt of a racist immigration enforcement system. There are no safe “third countries'' for Black asylum seekers. A border wall and increased surveillance will only perpetuate this nation’s long history of criminalizing Black and Brown people. Instead of leaning into the anti-Black xenophobic policies at the center of the current negotiations, lawmakers should demonstrate unwavering commitment to human decency and unequivocally prioritize the well-being of asylum seekers and stop using our communities’ safety as their bargaining chip.”
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