Washington, D.C. | www.adc.org | January 26, 2017 – Earlier this week, the Trump Administration announced Executive Orders that will set to institute an Arab and Muslim Ban. Earlier this month, the Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act of 2017 was introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) calls on you to Take Action. The lives of human beings and current protections for asylum seekers are at stake.
The Executive Orders and H.R. 391 will send Refugees and Children Back to Danger. H.R.391 will modify the treatment of unaccompanied alien children who are in Federal custody by reason of their immigration status, and for other purposes.
Among many changes to law, the bill would:
- Raise the expedited removal screening standard to an unduly high level. Even under the current standard, legitimate asylum seekers are denied “credible fear” and the chance to file an application for asylum.
- Deny asylum to large numbers of refugees based on transit or stays in countries where they had no legal status or no permanent status, which they can return. Refugees with valid claims would be left in a state of uncertainty, with no prospects for a durable solution and no secure future for themselves and their children. Many would be left in the United States under orders of removal.
- Prevent arriving asylum seekers who have passed the credible fear screening process from being paroled from immigration detention. Asylum seekers would be left in jails and facilities with conditions that resemble jails for months or longer, even though there are more humane alternatives.
- Allow asylum applicants, unaccompanied children, to be bounced to third countries in the absence of any agreement between the United States and the countries in question for the reception of asylum seekers. This would lead to “refugee ping pong.” The transit country would be likely to return the person to his home country despite fears of persecution, attempt to send him to another country, or bounce him back to the United States.