John,

Last week, the Biden administration announced new restrictions on immigration and set up more barriers for people who are fleeing persecution and desperately seeking asylum in the U.S.

Everyone fleeing danger has the right to seek safety. We must affirm that fundamental, internationally-recognized human right to asylum—no matter the color of people’s skin, no matter where they’re coming from.

Our country has the resources and the duty to take in asylum-seekers, just as we have with thousands of Ukrainian refugees.

Please sign the petition to the Biden administration to demand protection for asylum-seekers and humane immigration reform, rather than expanding Trump-era policies.

In solidarity,

Team Rashida

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Team Rashida
Date: Thu, Jan 12, 2023
Subject: Sign now: Stop deporting asylum-seekers
To: [email protected]

John,

Seeking asylum is a human right, enshrined in U.S. and international law. Typically, people fleeing violence have been able to seek asylum no matter how they get to the U.S.—including by coming to the U.S.-Mexico border and applying for asylum there.  

But Trump used a racist, xenophobic policy called Title 42 to reject people who came to the border before they could even seek asylum—expelling Black and brown immigrants to Mexico (where they’re often targeted for violence and exploitation) or deporting them back to the countries they fled, where they face certain danger.

Since starting his presidency, President Biden has promised to end Title 42, but the administration has been blocked by federal courts.

Unfortunately, last week, the Biden administration announced new rules to ramp up expulsions under Title 42, with even more restrictions on immigration and more barriers for refugees.

Our immigrant neighbors deserve humane and just immigration reform, not repackaged or expanded Trump-era policies. As a child of immigrants, Rashida knows how painful it is to experience policies that make one feel less than. We need to do better.

Sign now to tell the Biden administration: The right to seek asylum is enshrined in U.S. and international law. Stop deporting and expelling asylum-seekers! Instead, we need to help people who are fleeing violence and seeking refuge here.

America is a nation of immigrants. We are a safe haven for those fleeing violence. The whole point of asylum is to create a pathway to safety. We have a legal and moral duty to protect people seeking refuge in our country.

But the administration wants to essentially replace asylum with humanitarian parole programs, which would only allow people to stay in the U.S. for two years. Not only is that not enough, but their new rules for this program would force refugees to risk their lives while going through impossible hoops: applying online for the program, getting thorough background checks, having a valid passport, and being able to pay for their own flight to the U.S.

If they don’t meet all these requirements, they’ll be disqualified from the program and turned away.

These rules will hurt the most vulnerable people among us who are at urgent risk and have the greatest need for asylum.

In addition to the new policies that are now in effect, the administration is also planning to propose new rules to expel asylum-seekers if they passed through another country on the way here. If they didn’t try to seek asylum in another country on the way, they would be ineligible for asylum or humanitarian parole in the U.S. and would be banned from returning for 5 years.

This inhumane plan is similar to plans proposed by Trump’s racist advisor Stephen Miller—the same advisor who is responsible for the Trump administration policy of putting immigrant children in cages and separating them from their parents.

Please sign the petition to the Biden administration to demand protection for asylum-seekers and humane immigration reform, not repackaged or expanded Trump-era policies.

In solidarity,

Team Rashida