John,

During the Trump administration, asylum seekers at our southern border began being turned away based on a policy known as the Transit Ban, which cut off asylum access for thousands of migrants fleeing violence and disaster and put many people in danger―particularly Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQ+ people.

Now, the Biden administration has stated in a court filing their plan to resurrect the Trump-era asylum Transit Ban, while adding additional barriers to people seeking refuge.¹

While the administration has made meaningful movement on granting humanitarian parole policies for Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, civil rights and human rights groups emphasize that these parole policies cannot displace existing asylum laws. Additionally, the financial resource requirements being implemented by the Biden administration mean that the most vulnerable people seeking asylum will not reap the benefits of the parole programs.

Asylum is a legal right, but it is also a basic human right, founded on the right to human dignity.

Join CHN and our allies in calling on President Biden to work with Congress on an immigration policy that ensures a safe, humane, and orderly border that upholds the right to asylum. Tell President Biden to unconditionally end the Transit Ban, which erodes the legal right to seek asylum.

Last month, we sent more than 14,000 letters to members of Congress, urging them to sign-on to a letter authored by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Bob Menendez and other champions in Congress, demanding the cancellation of asylum bans now.

Thanks in part to our work, nearly 80 members of the House and Senate signed the letter, urging the Biden administration to cancel asylum bans. The Biden administration must work with members of Congress to adequately address migration to our southern border without violating international and domestic asylum law.

Sign the petition to President Biden demanding an unconditional end to the Trump-era Transit Ban.

Lawmakers stand ready to work with the Biden administration. It’s up to us to keep the pressure on and demand action.

Thank you,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ https://cgrs.uchastings.edu/sites/default/files/2023.02.07 SCOTUS Feds Brief.pdf