Category: Asylum

Letters Opposing New Asylum Procedures

June 19, 2020 /

On June 15, 2020, the Trump administration posted a proposal to the Federal Register that would drastically restrict the ability of people seeking asylum to apply and qualify for asylum in the U.S.

The proposal’s biggest changes include removing the ability to claim asylum due to a credible fear of domestic or gang violence in the country of origin and increased restrictions to legal representation. Previous policy interpreted asylum law to include such threats. Under President Trump, policy has increasingly excluded this type of violence. The new proposal would make that policy official, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced people vulnerable.

Per the Mormon Women for Ethical Government Principles of Ethical Government, we are committed to “promoting ethical government for the protection and well-being of our brothers and sisters.” Thus, we began this letter-writing campaign. With the authors’ permission, we’re reprinting some of those letters here.

‘Reach Out in Mercy to the Stranger’

July 15, 2020 /

I’m submitting my concerns regarding the proposed changes to the Procedures for Asylum and Withholding of Removal; Credible Fear & Reasonable Fear Review. I have spent the last three years working with asylum seekers in Phoenix, Arizona, after they have been released from ICE custody. I have participated in interviews of their experiences in their home countries, as well as the countries they have traveled through to get to the United States. Many of their experiences involve horrific violence, torture, the kidnapping of children and death threats for refusing to sell drugs. The most common feature of these horrible experiences was that the government couldn’t or wouldn’t do anything to protect its own citizens. 

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‘They Will Enrich Our Country With Their Desire To Build a Better Society’

July 13, 2020 /

The Department of Homeland Security’s recently proposed massive changes to asylum policy violate decades of asylum policy norms, international asylum law set forth by the UN, and our moral responsibility to protect people fleeing for their safety. 

The proposal restricts protection for those fleeing torture and sets unrealistic standards for those arriving at the US-Mexico border. It overrides current US and international law by eliminating protection for people fleeing domestic and gang-related violence. It permits judges to deny valid claims before the asylum seekers even get to appear in court. 

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‘This Issue Strikes at the Very Core of the Values I Believed America Was Built Upon’

July 13, 2020 /

I am deeply concerned about the proposed changes to asylum policy. This proposal essentially eliminates protection for people who are fleeing domestic and gang-related violence. It unrealistically raises the standard people must meet when they arrive at the border to nearly unattainable standards. It weakens due process and fairness for asylum seekers. 

This proposal is unfair, unjust, and inhumane.

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