, Contact your Congressional representatives. Ask them to urge the incoming Biden administration to reverse recent Trump administration rules that severely restrict the right to asylum. Email your representatives using www.democracy.io
AND/OR
Submit a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.
Use this message or draft your own:
Dear XXX
The Trump administration put many rules into place that make it difficult, if not impossible, for immigrants fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries to find refuge in the United States. The Procedures for Asylum and Withholding of Removal; Credible Fear and Reasonable Fear Review, published in the Federal Register on December 11, 2020 are especially egregious.
The rules will:
Severely restrict asylum requests based on domestic or gang violence;
Disqualify asylum requests from those who did not seek protective status in another country first;
Raise the standard of persecution that an asylum-seeker must prove they will suffer if they return to their home country to a severe level of harm.
For thousands of asylum seekers, these rules could mean death.
The rules will take effect January 11, 2021 so reversal must begin on day one of President-elect Biden’s term.I am calling on you to make sure the Biden administration reinstates due process for asylum seekers. The world once admired the U.S. for our humane and just treatment of refugees. It’s time to restore our reputation. It’s past time to let asylum seekers know that in this country, they’ll get a fair chance to find the refuge they so desperately need.
