Press Release
Published on January 11, 2017
Washington, D.C.— Human Rights First today urged members of the House Judiciary Committee to reject the Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act (H.R. 391) introduced yesterday by Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT). This legislation would severely undermine the United States’ commitment to refugees by sending those with legitimate fears of persecution back to dangerous circumstances.
“Many of the provisions in this bill would risk the lives of refugees and unaccompanied children fleeing violence and persecution by blocking access to asylum or other protection in the United States,” said Human Rights First’s Eleanor Acer. “This bill undermines U.S. global leadership on protecting refugees and victims of trafficking and sends the wrong signal to countries around the world, encouraging them to shirk their responsibilities to protect victims of persecution and trafficking.”
The Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act, originally introduced in the 114th Congress, would lead to the deportation of legitimate refugees with well-founded fears of persecution, leave others in immigration detention for months and put children at risk of return to trafficking, death, and persecution in their home countries. Human Rights First expressed its strong opposition to the bill when introduced last year in a statement submitted for the record, expressing concern that passage of the bills would make it harder for those fleeing persecution and torture to file for asylum in the United States, a process already fraught with obstacles. In a series of recent reports, Human Rights First has documented the sharp escalation in U.S. detention of asylum seekers and the failure of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release from detention asylum seekers who are eligible for parole and meet the relevant asylum parole standards. Instead, many are held in facilities with conditions identical to those in criminal correctional facilities for many months and sometimes longer.
“At a time when U.S. use of the costly tool of immigration detention is already at an all-time high, this bill seeks to block the release of asylum seekers from immigration detention even when they have passed initial screening, can establish identity and present no flight or safety risk. This approach runs contrary to American ideals of liberty and violates U.S. human rights and refugee protection treaty commitments. It would also be exceedingly costly, leading millions of dollars more to be paid out to immigration detention facility operators. This approach is even more inexplicable given the availability of more cost effective and humane alternatives,” added Acer.
Human Rights First does, however, note that the bill would provide for an increase in immigration judges, a long overdue move that would help to alleviate the backlog in the overburdened immigration courts. The organization calls on Congress to support a significant increase in immigration court staffing, whether via appropriations or alternative legislation that does not undermine access to asylum.
Among many changes to the law, these proposed pieces of legislation would:
Human Rights First recommends that Congress take steps to strengthen the asylum system, including:
