On June 15, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed a new rule, “Procedures for Asylum and Withholding of Removal; Credible Fear and Reasonable Fear Review.” The proposed rule is one among many actions that have been aimed at making legal immigration harder and would severely restrict access to asylum in the U.S., putting the world’s most vulnerable in further danger. These changes to established pathways to protection are a direct violation of domestic and international human rights law.
We urge you to read the instructions for submitting a comment below and express your opposition to this harmful rule!
The public comment period in response to the proposed rule is open until July 15. This is an opportunity for you to read the proposed rule and submit a comment. Your comment will become public record. After the comment period has closed, the DOJ and DHS will be required to read all the submitted comments and take them into consideration in finalizing the rule.
Instructions for submitting a comment:
Write the comment in your own words. Use the suggested talking points to help guide your comment but be sure to put any thoughts or arguments in your own words. Use research, facts, and resources to demonstrate how this rule will harm the most vulnerable. Speak to our moral, ethical, and humanitarian obligations to uphold the dignity of every human being. Reference policies of The Episcopal Church’s General Convention and Executive Council. Offer comments on your areas of expertise, educational or professional background, or involvement with immigration.
Talking points:
- We have domestic and international law protecting the rights of the world’s most vulnerable to apply for asylum.
- This proposed rule would put families seeking protection along the U.S. southern border in further danger.
- Attempts to block asylum seekers from entering the U.S. are concerning to me as a person of faith and an American.
- Our nation is not living up to the commitment to be a beacon of liberty and hope for all people.
- We are tarnishing our reputation as a world leader committed to human rights and upholding dignity.
There are two ways to submit your comment:
- Submit your comment online using the following link.
- Submit by mail to: Lauren Alder Reid, Assistant Director, Office of Policy, Executive Office for Immigration Review, 5107 Leesburg Pike, Suite 1800, Falls Church, VA 22041. To ensure proper handling, please reference the agency name and RIN 1125-AA94 or EOIR Docket No. 18-0002 on your correspondence. Mailed items must be postmarked or otherwise indicate a shipping date on or before the submission deadline.
More information on the proposed rule:
The proposed rule would institute the following changes, among others:
- A narrowed definition of “credible fear” – eliminating claims to protection from fear of gangs or terrorists
- DHS officers would have the power to deny asylum based on “frivolous” claims, a power currently held by immigration judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals
- Deny asylum to people fleeing violence, domestic abuse, persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and persecution from “rogue” government officials
- Allow immigration judges to dismiss an asylum claim without a hearing
- Allow denial of asylum based on discretionary factors: transiting through a third country, entering between ports of entry, living undocumented in the U.S. for more than a year, criminal convictions that have been vacated or expunged
- Eliminate protections under the U.N. Convention Against Torture to persons who were tortured, physically or mentally, by the police or members of the military who are deemed as “rogue” officials acting “not under color of law”
- Create a barrier for asylum seekers in expedited removal proceedings to apply for withholding or removal when they have been barred from asylum by the administrations’ existing asylum rule changes
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