Dear John, When it comes to one of WOLA’s core areas of work, migration and human rights at the border, I went into last night’s presidential debate unsure of what to expect.
There is an obvious and stark difference between the two candidates. Still, the debate made clear how much work we need to do to protect people coming to our borders seeking refuge.
Below are key takeaways from the debate around migration and asylum: - We must move public opinion away from fear-mongering, and toward more rights-focused and humane management of our border and immigration systems, especially for people who come here for protection.
- We must continue to push legislators to reject efforts to roll back established human rights like asylum, to use their oversight power to ensure accountability for abuse, and to invest in common-sense changes that respect the rights and dignity of migrants. As you know, this is not easy, especially in recent years, but WOLA will never relent on our work in Congress.
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We must work with the U.S. government to build the capacity that our broken, backlogged asylum system needs to adjudicate claims with full due process.
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We must stand with border communities living amidst an ever-increasing array of walls, concertina wire, surveillance technology, and deployments of security forces who rarely get held accountable when they abuse rights.
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We must stay vocal and diligent about addressing the reasons why the need to seek stable and safe lives has forced millions of people to uproot themselves and flee—not just to the United States, but to destinations throughout the region.
It’s a daunting but doable task. WOLA is committed to ensuring that a better vision of a more humane, more orderly, more welcoming, and more cooperative border and migration system not only gets discussed in high-profile debates, but actually gets enacted.
Thank you, as always, for your continued solidarity, Adam Isacson |
