FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 4, 2024 | Washington, DC

ANAR DENOUNCES NEW ROUND OF ANTI ASYLUM POLICIES FROM THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

Today, President Biden announced a set of executive actions that further erode access to asylum. In his announcement, the President said, “the simple truth is there is a worldwide migrant crisis, and if the United States doesn’t secure our border, there is no limit to the number of people who may try to come here…”

The reality is that there is not a “migrant” crisis. Instead, the crisis is that the Biden administration has fully embraced the same anti-immigrant, exclusionary policies of the previous administration. In fact, this is the latest in President Biden’s efforts to codify and expand upon many of the worst immigration policies from the Trump administration. These policies never work to achieve anything other than exacerbate suffering and cause harm to thousands.

Each week, our team provides legal assistance to recently arrived Afghan asylum seekers detained in ICE prisons around the country. As a result of the anti-asylum policies the Biden administration has already enacted, our clients face egregious conditions in prolonged detention, and absurd challenges in their legal processes. If this new order is enacted, it would further limit their access to relief, and without a doubt result in more detentions, more deportations, and family separation. We recognize that the new discretionary standards and rapid processing that the order creates will result in more cover for racist and Islamophobic decisions, and the criminalization of our community members.

While we will continue to push back against attempts to destroy access to asylum, and the rhetoric that enables these policies, we also seek to reaffirm that we will continue to stand alongside our community members who are forced to defend themselves from these policies. We are glad to work alongside countless advocates who are prepared to challenge the Biden administration just as we did the Trump administration before it.

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Project ANAR is an Afghan community immigration justice organization formed and led by Afghan American women immigration lawyers and organizers, that focuses on legal services, community education, and advocacy and engagement. Project ANAR’s objectives include obtaining permanent status for Afghans in the U.S., advocating for the expansion of pathways for those seeking refuge, and seeking an end to the systems that displace our communities. Project ANAR works primarily in the Bay Area, California and in Northern Virginia, and also engages in national level advocacy and legal services work.