John,

President Biden just announced an outrageous executive order that effectively bans people from seeking asylum at our country’s southern border.

This will endanger thousands of people who are fleeing violence and persecution in their countries, violating the human right of asylum—which is affirmed in U.S. and international law.

Our country has the duty as well as the resources to take in asylum-seekers. But this new order will lock up and deport more people for the simple human act of trying to move for a better life.

This new executive order uses a controversial presidential authority that Trump used for his Muslim ban and his attacks on asylum.

President Biden promised to end cruel Trump-era immigration policies, not resume them. Now, the ACLU plans to sue to challenge this new order, saying: “A ban on asylum is illegal just as it was when Trump unsuccessfully tried it.”

Please sign now to demand President Biden protect asylum-seekers, rather than dehumanizing migrants who are escaping violence and seeking a better life for their families.

When running for office, Joe Biden said he’d work for a more just and humane immigration process. As President, he has the authority to take many actions to improve and simplify our immigration system, including enabling work permits and pathways to citizenship for our immigrant neighbors.

Instead, his administration has acted to restrict asylum, to increase deportations, and to expand immigrant detention. Border Patrol and other U.S. agencies are now tasked with criminalizing more refugees and sending more people to their deaths through deportations. This new executive order will endanger thousands more children and families.

President Biden’s new policy legitimizes right-wing lies and xenophobic fear-mongering, even though border crossings are actually on the decline. As a child of immigrants, I know how painful it is to experience policies that make people feel less than.

Detention Watch Network noted this week: “It is clear that the administration is playing political games with people’s lives as a means to tap into fears of scarcity and insecurity while shamefully scapegoating immigrants. Instead of fighting over a piece of the pie, we can make the whole pie bigger—and our immigrant friends and neighbors, current and future, are part of that solution.”

Please sign now to demand President Biden welcome asylum-seekers rather than banning or criminalizing them. We need a stronger refugee protection and resettlement program, as well as a path to citizenship for our immigrant neighbors.

Thank you. Together we can build a future with dignity and safety for all people, including immigrants seeking safety and a better life.

In solidarity,

Rashida