FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb 5, 2024
Media Contact: bethelhem@undocublack.org
Washington D.C – Under the cloak of a quiet Sunday evening, a group of lawmakers finally revealed the product of months of secret negotiations: an immigration bill that would put the lives of thousands, if not millions, of asylum seekers and other immigrants at risk. If signed into law, the stringent anti-immigrant provisions of this bill will significantly hinder asylum seekers' ability to find safety and protection, and will disproportionately impact Black immigrants. As proposed, this bill increases the legal standard for asylum seekers, making it significantly more challenging for those fleeing persecution in countries, where they also often leave behind proof of harm. This bill also sets the number of asylum seekers arriving at the port of entry to an arbitrary number per day, allowing a Title 42-like policy to be triggered, when the maximum number is met. This bill further hinders the ability of asylum seekers to receive counsel and language access in expedited-removal-like proceedings. It is equally shameful that Biden and Senate leadership negotiated to triple ICE's budget; much of which will go towards disproportionately incarcerating Black migrants. The UndocuBlack Network is enraged at the provisions in the bill. Our communities demand that all elected officials who put out empty words of solidarity with Black communities this month match their words with action and "vote no" on this bill.
Director of Policy at UndocuBlack Network, Haddy Gassama, said, "As an organization that advocates for the dignity and rights of Black migrants, we are acutely sensitive to the dissonance of witnessing both the President and Members of Congress, who purport to value our communities, actively harming us. In the past few years, under this administration, we've seen the continuation of Title 42, where there were mass deportations of Black migrants, many of whom were pregnant women and babies. This year, on the eve of Black History Month, the Biden Administration deported several Black Mauritanians back to a country that practices slavery. Today, as we process and mourn the death of a Senegalese migrant in a detention center we have consistently been calling for the closure of due to its history of harm and negligence, another attack on our communities emerges in the form of this supplemental bill text. This bill serves as a testament to the Biden administration and Senate leadership's complicity in fanning the flames of White nationalism. Black asylum seekers fleeing persecution often bear the heaviest brunt of anti-immigrant policies, namely by unfounded presumptions of fraud by immigration officials during asylum interviews or hearings and being detained and deported at a higher rate than other migrants. Any policy that raises the standards of an already discriminatory system will inevitably harm Black migrants."
Executive Director at UndocuBlack Network, Patrice Lawrence, said: “The Senate at Genocide Joe’s behest has barreled through with the presentation of a bill that guts asylum, punishes those who seek asylum with incarceration and puts a quota on how many people are entitled to protection. The paradox that this bill goes alongside the demands for more money for killing Palestinians is a gross reminder that as a practice, America is choosing to value only certain people as people and bar or bomb the rest.
Surreptitiously, February, which is also Black History Month, has been laden with anti-Black decisions from the Biden-Harris Administration since the beginning of their Administration in 2021. One may recall the UndocuBlack breaking news, “ICE Deports Black Immigrants On First Day Of Black History Month,” on February 1, 2021. We strongly caution against and condemn a yes vote on this supplemental bill, which furthers a nasty trend by this White House.” Congress must reject this bill and any similar ones that would prevent asylum seekers from exercising not only their legal rights but also their human rights to seek safety.”
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