Biden has recycled and, in some ways, surpassed Trump’s administration when it comes to policies that disproportionately harm Black and brown communities.
Last week the Biden administration proposed banning asylum seekers from the United States, presuming an asylum-seeker ineligible for asylum due to transit through a third country if they did not first seek protection in countries they traveled through during their journey to the U.S.
A previous version of Biden’s ban was proposed by the Trump administration and subsequently struck down by a federal court.
This asylum ban, like Trump’s, will disproportionately harm Black, Brown, and Indigenous asylum seekers fleeing imminent danger from their home countries and seeking safety at the U.S. southern border. It will target communities who often cannot afford or access a visa to arrive in the U.S. by plane and make the treacherous trek across multiple countries to arrive at the border. During their journey to the U.S. across many counties, Black and brown immigrants are subjected to anti-Blackness and discrimination. The rising number of immigration court asylum denial rates for Black and brown asylum seekers during which the asylum ban was in effect in the Trump era is Exhibit A for how such anti-Black policies and rules excessively harm Black and brown communities.
Despite campaign promises of prioritizing racial equity, the administration has followed and in some ways, surpassed the course of its predecessor when it comes to immigration policies that disproportionately harm Black migrants. The administration’s blatant attack on the rights of non-white asylum seekers does not come as a surprise. For Black immigrant communities, there has been little to no distinction between the Trump and the Biden administration.
The proposed rule as it is not only unlawfully denies protection to asylum seekers and requires them to seek asylum in countries that do not have functional asylum systems but will also actively separate families and expose vulnerable asylum seekers, women and children to harm and despair.
The Biden administration has provided only 30 days for the public to comment on the proposed rule, essentially denying the public the right to significantly comment under the notice and comment rulemaking procedures required by the Administrative Procedure Act.
The UndocuBlack Network condemns this asylum ban and all policies aimed at blocking the ability of Black migrants to access their international human right to seek safety in the United States.
This Administration opened Black History Month with the deportation of Haitian migrants, and they are closing out the month by doubling down on Trump’s failed asylum ban efforts and deporting more Haitians on the last day of Black History Month.
UndocuBlack “is a multigenerational network of currently and formerly undocumented Black people that fosters community, facilitates access to resources, and contributes to transforming the realities of our people, so we are thriving and living our fullest lives.”
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