Friend, Earlier this year, we undertook a project, with Human Rights First, to get to the heart of what’s broken about legal access at the border. We interviewed providers at five organizations currently or recently providing legal services to people in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody and the findings were shocking: Lawyers cannot physically visit their clients in CBP custody. Most asylum seekers never get to talk to a lawyer before they have their asylum screening interview. Even more alarming, many people are never given a screening interview before they are quickly deported – leaving them without any legal orientation about their right to seek asylum. CBP severely restricts asylum seekers’ access to phones to call their family and lawyers. Many asylum seekers only get one shot at a phone call, and it’s on the weekend or after hours, when legal service providers are closed. Legal providers are increasingly unable to provide services to people in CBP custody due to insurmountable obstacles.
The consequences are dire. Restricting legal access in an already restrictive system means the United States is returning asylum seekers to persecution and even death. As the incoming administration prepares to impose restrictive, anti-asylum policies at the border, the time to act is now. We urgently call on Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Mayorkas to take immediate action to safeguard the asylum process before it's too late. Specifically, we need DHS to issue a directive permitting lawyers physical access to CBP facilities. This will help rectify the significant barriers asylum seekers face to legal counsel and protect against the worst abuses anticipated under the Trump administration. Friend, we need your voice to make this happen. Please take action now by by adding your name to our petition to Secretary Mayorkas — your support is vital in ensuring the protection and dignity of those seeking asylum.
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