In an oft-repeated and always-sickening exercise, yesterday the President took steps to put even more barriers in place to stop people from seeking safety in our country. The actions of this administration against asylum seekers fleeing persecution and violence are antithetical to American values and the rule of law.
The President’s memorandum, issued yesterday, directs the Attorney General to take a number of actions within 90 days, including :
- For the first time ever, making asylum seekers pay fees to apply for asylum – with many asylum seekers coming to the United States with little to no financial resources, this is a barrier to refuge disguised as a routine fee.
- Crafting a new court path for asylum seekers that will result in more asylum seekers being detained in government facilities.
- Putting a clock on how long the Department of Justice can take to adjudicate asylum trials – with already overloaded courts, this is going to result in less due process and less fair trials for asylum seekers as the courts race to meet the artificially-created deadlines.
- Preventing asylum seekers from legally working in the United States while their cases are pending - despite the fact that the government already take years to decide or have trials on cases.
We condemn this new action and anticipate that this new volley of anti-immigrant actions will be tested quickly in the federal courts. As always, we will continue to provide legal services to immigrants detained in the Capital Region and use the courts to challenge bad laws and policies that target our clients.
