Immigrant advocates denounce Biden’s proposed anti-immigrant executive order
THE NEW York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an umbrella policy and advocacy organisation that represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York State, has denounced a proposed anti-immigrant executive order by President Joe Biden that would prevent Caribbean and other migrants entering the US from the Southern Border from claiming asylum.
The initiative would suspend America’s long-standing policy of considering asylum for migrants once they land on US soil.
Most of the migrants and asylum seekers arriving in New York and other northern states from the southern border of the United States are nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela and Guatemala.
“What is needed now more than ever from the Biden administration is to ensure that any border security executive actions protect due process for asylum seekers and provide resources for a fair, efficient and humane asylum system,” NYIC’s Executive Director Murad Awawdeh told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) on Wednesday.
“The cruel measures being proposed collectively create a government mandated asylum ban, which even Border officials contend will only create more chaos at the southern border, while failing to address the real issue at hand,” he added. “Our nation has an obligation to uphold its commitment to its humanitarian values and ensuring the safety of all communities seeking protection within our borders.”
Awawdeh called on the Biden administration to abandon “this cruel proposed plan and immediately invest in strategic, humane actions that will help secure our border and provide fair treatment for asylum seekers.”
According to reports, Biden is seriously considering using a law, which dates back to 1952, that significantly limits access to the US asylum system.
The legislation, known as 212(f ), permits the US President to “suspend the entry” of migrants seeking asylum, when he determines that it is not in America’s best interest.
Last week, House Republicans rejected a deal brokered by the White House and a bi-partisan group of Senators that would permit the president to summarily prohibit illegal migration.
White House spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández on Wednesday blamed Republican legislators for heightening the immigration crisis, stating that they “chose to put partisan politics ahead of our national security.”
“No executive action, no matter how aggressive, can deliver the significant policy reforms and additional resources Congress can provide and that Republicans rejected, ”he said. “We continue to call on Speaker (Mike) Johnson and House Republicans to pass the bipartisan deal to secure the border.