ACLU Supporter –

The Trump administration is trying to dismantle the asylum system as we know it, through policies that make it nearly impossible for people to safely claim asylum at the southern border.

Congress can fight back by passing the Asylum Seeker Protection Act, which defunds the now one-year-old policy of forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases are decided.

It's up to us to keep up the pressure: Send a message to your representative urging them to co-sponsor the Asylum Seeker Protection Act now.

The administration has attacked asylum seekers in so many ways. They have severely restricted who can apply for asylum and how. They have engaged in cruel, inhumane treatment of asylum seekers as a method of deterrence. And one year ago today, the administration launched its forced Return to Mexico policy (or what they call the Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP).

Due to this policy, the government is sending vulnerable people back into situations that are often as dangerous as the ones they fled. Tens of thousands of people are now trapped in dangerous conditions while they await court dates inside the U.S. There, they can face robbery, kidnapping, rape, and even murder. They often lack adequate access to water, food, and medical care. Our own policy has created humanitarian crises in northern Mexico.

And we're paying for this with our tax dollars.

If you don't want your taxpayer money funding abuses of asylum seekers, tell your representative to co-sponsor the Asylum Seeker Protection Act, which defunds a major part of Trump's anti-asylum program.

We can't let the administration shut this country's door on asylum seekers. Asylum is legal. Asylum is a right. Asylum is American.

Keep up the fight,

Ruthie Epstein
ACLU Deputy Director of Immigration Policy, National Political Advocacy Department