FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 12, 2023
Washington DC- Reports indicate that the Biden Administration is negotiating with Congressional Republicans to pawn the rights of immigrants to fund a genocide, war, and continued border militarization. Critical aspects of Biden's proposal include nationwide expedited removals and dismantling the right to seek asylum in the U.S. through a transit ban and other changes to asylum law.
UndocuBlack and many other advocacy groups have long spoken out against the harms of a transit ban and other proposed changes to asylum policy. It has been reported that the negotiations include measures that will heavily criminalize asylum seekers, and our organization has long been sounding the alarm about how Black immigrants will also be bearing the brunt of these practices. Further, the supplemental funding bill would add $7.8 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), two agencies with a long-standing history of racism and little to no accountability toward our communities.
Haddy Gassema, Undocublack Network’s Director of Policy and Advocacy, said:
“ Whether here in the U.S., on the southern border, or in Gaza, our struggles for liberation are connected. The current administration has already done so much harm to immigrant communities and has the blood of Palestinians on its hands. This latest ploy to get the right to asylum and deport people with no due process to fund the ongoing genocide of Palestinians is uncontainable. Instead of attaching harmful immigration provisions to a funding request, we urge the Administration and Members of Congress to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and to lean into more humane and dignified immigration policies that support asylum seekers and immigrant communities in the interior of the country.”
The recent addition of expedited removal, a legal term of art that describes the process of deporting an individual without giving them access to an attorney or hearing before an immigration judge, to Biden's tranche of harmful immigration policies bears a chilling resemblance to President Trump's second term immigration proposal. Expedited removals are currently limited to use at or near the border; Biden's recent proposal would expand its use to the country's interior for up to two years after a personal arrival into the U.S.
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