Despite immigrants’ contributions to our communities and economy, our current immigration system still fails to provide a way for millions of immigrants to apply for legal status and citizenship. Instead, the system wastes billions of dollars on dangerous and unnecessary detention, frequently violates basic principles of fairness and due process, and fails to deliver on our legal and moral obligation to protect people fleeing persecution.

If elected, Vice President Kamala Harris has an opportunity to chart a new course. At the ACLU, we urge the Harris-Walz administration to champion policies that recognize the value of immigrants’ contributions to the United States, that humanely manage the border, that restore asylum and respect the rights of arriving immigrants, and that strengthen ways to lawfully come to this country.

Learn more in our breakdown.

The Facts: A Harris-Walz presidency must prioritize immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship and protection from deportation.

Specifically, we encourage a Harris administration to use its executive authority to protect longtime members of the immigrant community, including by issuing additional designations for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and protecting parents and other caregivers from deportation. We will also urge Harris to work with Congress to prioritize reform efforts that will provide a pathway to citizenship and strengthen American families and communities.

To support meaningful asylum and border management reforms, Harris must go beyond “toughness” as the measure of policy. She will instead need to embrace and communicate the fact that a functional asylum system furthers our values and benefits American communities. Her administration will need to invest in solutions that restore and modernize the asylum system, ensure fairness for people seeking protection, and support the communities that receive new immigrants.

Why It Matters: Today, the vast majority of undocumented immigrants have lived in the United States for more than a decade, but under our current system they often cannot obtain legal status as there is no “line” for them to get into or “right way” to get citizenship. Right now, an estimated one in 10 American children live with someone who lacks legal status, including parents and siblings. These families live in fear of being broken apart through deportation. Many are at risk of deportation to countries they do not consider home — having left those countries as children — or where they would be unsafe due to conflict and crisis.

At the same time, global migration is at an all time high, yet people fleeing violence and persecution are left with few options to seek safety in the U.S. as the government has sought to restrict the legal right to seek asylum. These anti-asylum policies leave many vulnerable people in danger and do nothing to improve border management, our immigration court system, or coordination to receive our new neighbors.

How We Got Here: Throughout his presidency, Donald Trump aggressively attacked and undermined our nation’s asylum laws. Soon after Joe Biden’s inauguration, his administration restarted the refugee processing system, giving hope to many that the Trump era of scapegoating immigrants and dismantling our humanitarian protection system was over. However, the Biden administration never restored the asylum system. To the contrary, Biden initially elected to continue his predecessor’s unlawful “expulsion” policy. When it ended, he rolled out a new, extreme border restriction that largely mimicked two Trump-era policies, which courts had held as illegal.

In June 2024, the Biden administration doubled down on this approach with its illegal “Securing the Border” rule, further limiting access to protection for everyone at the border who is not able to obtain a rare port appointment to seek asylum. Adding to this, states like Texas have attempted to take enforcement of the federal immigration laws into their own hands, both at and beyond the border. Evidence has repeatedly demonstrated that state and local immigration enforcement leads to racial profiling and arbitrary detention — including of U.S. citizens — and terrorizes entire communities.

Our Roadmap: To start, the ACLU will urge a Harris-Walz administration to take aggressive executive action to dismantle the system of mass immigrant detention. Specifically, we are asking Harris to issue an executive order on immigrant detention that includes a moratorium on any new detention facilities, requires a review and closure of detention facilities with records of abuse, and phases private and contract detention centers. We will also encourage a Harris administration to exercise executive power to expand pathways for people inside and outside the United States — including our nation’s military veterans and people who have been wrongfully deported — to safely seek lawful status. The administration must also call for Congress to reduce funding for immigrant detention, and initiate a review of every person currently in immigration custody.

We will also work to persuade a Harris administration to restore access to asylum and end the Biden administration’s anti-asylum policies in favor of a balanced strategy that recognizes and protects the right to asylum while improving border management. Should a Harris-Walz administration adopt the Biden administration’s illegal anti-asylum policies, we will continue our legal fights against them.

We will also challenge state laws that target immigrant communities for harassment, racial profiling, arrest, banishment, or removal. We will urge the Harris-Walz administration to end the federal government’s collaboration with state and local anti-immigrant programs that violate civil rights, and to protect all communities from abusive, politically-motivated policies. Lastly, as we have done time and again, we will mobilize our members to elevate the will of the American people to take a balanced approach to immigration and for the U.S. to live up to its values.

What Our Experts Say: “A Harris administration could provide a critical opportunity to ensure a balanced and humane approach to U.S. immigration policy that recognizes the contributions of immigrants to our communities. Poll after poll, including research from the ACLU, shows that Americans support fair, orderly, and efficient policies that improve border management while offering a pathway to citizenship for our longtime neighbors – and a Harris administration should deliver on the will of the American people.” — Maribel Hernández Rivera, director of policy and government affairs for border and immigration at the ACLU

“If elected, a Kamala Harris administration has an opportunity to chart a new course on U.S. immigration policy and ensure a pathway to citizenship for longtime residents, while doing the critical work to restore our nation’s asylum system. As we have under every administration in the last two decades, we will continue to challenge the government when it violates the constitution and laws, as with prolonged immigration detention, detention of people in abusive conditions of confinement, anti-asylum bans, and immigration proceedings that violate due process and basic standards of fairness.” – Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project

What You Can Do Today: Even as the number of deaths in ICE custody has risen dramatically, the Biden administration is actively attempting to expand the detention system with new contracts to private prison companies despite persistent records of abuse and medical negligence. Tell the Biden administration to release medically vulnerable people from ICE detention and shut down the mass detention machine once and for all.

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump has promised to pursue even more extreme anti-immigrant policies if he wins a second term. These policies would disregard fundamental principles of democracy and the rule of law to devastate immigrant communities and erode freedoms for all Americans.

The ACLU is prepared to hold our executive branch to account. Just this week, we announced that we’ll challenge the Biden administration’s executive actions to illegally restrict people’s right to seek asylum – just as we previously challenged Trump’s actions. If Trump is reelected, we will continue to push to protect people and their rights against unlawful overreach. Learn more in our breakdown:

Trump On Immigration

The Facts: If reelected, Trump has promised to use totalitarian tactics to carry out the largest mass detention and deportation program in the nation’s history. Experience from smaller-scale detention sweeps shows that his proposed policies will lead to people being stopped, arrested, or detained simply because they “look foreign,” and his program will necessarily entail numerous other legal violations as well. Trump and his supporters also seek to dismantle our asylum system – creating more chaos at the border — and attack families by ending birthright citizenship and depriving undocumented children of their right to a public education. Trump has also vowed to reinstate family separation at the border – a cruel policy the ACLU blocked during his presidency.

Why It Matters: While many of the immigration policies we saw during Trump’s presidency were halted or delayed through litigation, the immigration policies we’ll likely see during a second Trump administration are far crueler, more extreme, and more fundamentally damaging to core rights and freedoms than any in living memory. If Trump is reelected, his plan to deport millions of people a year and severely restrict legal immigration will violate key legal protections – including our right to due process – and make xenophobia and racism the touchstones of American immigration policy. Simply put, these policies would harm all of us by tearing apart immigrant families, communities, and the fabric of American society.

How We Got Here: There’s no doubt that a second Trump administration will pick up and expand the anti-immigrant campaign it began in 2016. During his first term, the Trump administration instituted a Muslim ban, tried to deport Dreamers and others with temporary legal protection, separated families seeking asylum, and fought to build a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Our Roadmap: Through coordinated action at all levels and branches of government, we’re prepared to fight the Trump administration’s attack on immigrant rights. We’ll call on legislators to prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from conducting mass deportations and pass measures to begin shrinking the ICE detention machine. We’ll also work with states and localities to build a civil rights firewall to protect residents to the full extent possible and ensure that a Trump administration can’t hijack state resources to carry out its draconian policies. And, if Trump sends a bill to Congress that effectively ends asylum, we’re prepared to mobilize our supporters nationwide to stop it because we know that a strong majority of voters support the U.S. asylum system.

In addition to working for policy change at every government level, we’re prepared to litigate cases to protect people’s rights under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, as well as other legal provisions, against the mass deportation program. We’ll use the full power of the Fourteenth Amendment and Supreme Court precedent to protect birthright citizenship and ensure immigrant children have equal access to education. Lastly, should a second Trump administration try to bring back family separation at the border, we’ll take them to court for violating our settlement agreement.

What Our Experts Say: “These policies have no place in a democracy that protects or respects civil liberties and the rule of law. From the courts to the halls of Congress, we will use every tool at our disposal, including litigation, to defend the rights of immigrants and protect all members of our communities from the widespread damage these policies would cause.” – Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project

“Xenophobia and racism would become the touchstones of American immigration policy under a second Trump administration, if he is re-elected. That’s why we must begin mobilizing with local and state governments now to protect communities nationwide from extreme anti-immigrant policies.” – Naureen Shah, deputy director of government affairs at the ACLU

What You Can Do Today: ICE detention is known for abuse, pervasive medical neglect, and complete disregard for the dignity of people in its custody. Needlessly locking up people seeking a better life does nothing to make our communities safer. Take action now: Tell your congress member to support cuts for ICE detention capacity.

Sign up now to receive key issue memos as they’re released — and breaking alerts for all our work for civil liberties.

pNyynkpao Banyee remembers vividly the first time he saw the United States. He was six years old, flying high above New York City. “If I close my eyes right now, I go back to seeing, just being above New York and seeing those lights for the first time. It was nighttime. And there was snow. I remember seeing that for the first time, just a little bit, but it was beautiful,” he recalled recently./p pMr. Banyee, his mother and younger brother came to the U.S. in 2004 as refugees fleeing the civil war in Côte D’Ivoire. His father died in Côte D’Ivoire shortly after the family arrived in the States. They resettled first in rural Pennsylvania, then moved to Philadelphia and later became lawful permanent residents. When he was about 17, the family moved to North Dakota, where he has been living for nearly a decade and now lives with his mother and his two younger half-siblings. His mother’s two sisters live nearby, as does his brother./p pAn inquisitive and observant child, Mr. Banyee was fascinated by drawing and comic books. Today, at 26, he is a restaurant-worker who aims to use that creativity to turn his interest in music into a career. He has ambitious plans for building up his own business. He supports his family, although he says his family is really his support system, especially his mother. “Me and my siblings talk about this among ourselves: we’ve never seen a woman or a person as strong as our mother,” he said./p pA dark shadow hangs over Mr. Banyee’s bright future. He’s facing the possible loss of his liberty – deportation to a country he has never been back to since he fled as a child refugee and permanent separation from his family and the only home he’s ever known./p div class=alignfullwidth mb-8 wp-pullquote div class= wp-pullquote-inner p#8220;I Just Couldn’t Allow Myself to Be Defeated#8221;/p /div /div pIn 2017, when he was just 19, Mr. Banyee was arrested for robbery and later sentenced to four years in prison. He experienced a lot of fear upon being incarcerated but was inspired to turn over a new leaf. “A lot of different things kept me motivated, but I would say primarily, from the core, it was my family,” he said./p pWhile incarcerated, Mr. Banyee worked on himself and was motivated to learn as much as he could.He read an enormous selection of novels, finance books, magazines, and worked in the prison. His favorite job was working in the library. He voluntarily completed numerous programs in peer support, mental wellness, and practical skills like budgeting and CPR./p p“I just got into learning, learning, learning. I just couldn’t allow myself to be defeated [by the system].”/p pHe wrote letters to his family and sent them the poems he’d written. He wrote so much his family couldn’t keep up. Although his family wanted to visit him as much as possible, he wanted to spare them the burden of driving the long distance from their home to the prison, and the emotional toll of seeing him in prison. They still talked on the phone frequently./p pAfter spending years working on himself, Mr. Banyee’s release date was finally approaching: March 31, 2021. He was expecting to go home, but when March 31 came, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were waiting for him at the prison. They took him into custody, and he was transferred from North Dakota to a Minnesota jail./p p“I couldn’t believe it,” Mr. Banyee said. “I’ve been [in the U.S.] my entire life. I had no idea – no clue – what ICE was and what this department was capable of, or what in the world was going on.” He called his mother from the jail to tell her he was in detention again – not for a criminal reason, but because of immigration./p div class=wp-heading mb-8 h2 id= class=wp-heading-h2 with-standardThe Unjust System of Mandatory Immigration Detention /h2 /div pWhy was Mr. Banyee taken into immigration detention the moment he was released from prison?/p pIt was because of a law that Congress passed in 1996 that requires the mandatory detention of noncitizens facing possible deportation for criminal conduct. Under this law, ICE can detain noncitizens slated for deportation for a range of criminal convictions, including convictions for nonviolent, minor, or old offenses, and even if the noncitizens have already served their time and are a href=https://www.aclu.org/cases/nielsen-v-preaplong rehabilitated./a While their deportation cases are pending – a process that can take years – noncitizens could sit behind bars indefinitely, without the right to a bond hearing, even if they pose no danger or flight risk./p div class=mp-md wp-link div class=wp-link__img-wrapper a href=https://www.aclu.org/cases/nielsen-v-preap target=_blank tabindex=-1 img width=700 height=350 src=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ccd40eb636771df4582a1631f217cb88.jpg class=attachment-4x3_full size-4x3_full alt= decoding=async loading=lazy srcset=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ccd40eb636771df4582a1631f217cb88.jpg 700w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ccd40eb636771df4582a1631f217cb88-400x200.jpg 400w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ccd40eb636771df4582a1631f217cb88-600x300.jpg 600w sizes=(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px / /a /div div class=wp-link__title a href=https://www.aclu.org/cases/nielsen-v-preap target=_blank Nielsen v. Preap /a /div div class=wp-link__description a href=https://www.aclu.org/cases/nielsen-v-preap target=_blank tabindex=-1 p class=is-size-7-mobile is-size-6-tabletWhether the government can require that certain people are detained for the duration of their deportation proceedings — without a hearing —.../p /a /div div class=wp-link__source p-4 px-6-tablet a href=https://www.aclu.org/cases/nielsen-v-preap target=_blank tabindex=-1 p class=is-size-7Source: American Civil Liberties Union/p /a /div /div pSince the mandatory detention law was enacted in 1996, the ACLU has taken the lead in a href=https://www.aclu.org/cases/jennings-v-rodriguezchallenging/a it in the courts. My Khanh Ngo, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project (IRP), said immigration detention is not supposed to be about punishment. The only legitimate government interests in immigration detention are if a person poses a flight risk or a danger to the public. But the mandatory detention statute allows the government to detain a person without showing why it’s necessary – violating a basic principle of due process. Ngo recently appeared as counsel for Mr. Banyee before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, where she a href=http://media-oa.ca8.uscourts.gov/OAaudio/2024/2/222252.MP3argued/a that the mandatory detention statute was unconstitutionally applied to him./p p“The problem with mandatory detention is that there is no individualized consideration,” Ngo said, “Our argument has always been the government needs to bear the burden of showing this person needs to be detained either by [showing they’re a] flight risk or danger.”/p pAfter nearly 13 months in detention, Mr. Banyee and his volunteer immigration counsel, the Advocates for Human Rights (AHR), won a habeas petition – a request to a court or judge to determine whether a person#8217;s detainment is legal or just – and was granted a bond hearing. An immigration judge released him on bond in April 2022. He had been incarcerated for over five years, four for the criminal conviction, and one for mandatory immigration detention./p pHis family and friends celebrated his release with a big feast. Every moment of freedom has been special. “I had five years taken away from a lot of our time together,” Mr. Banyee said of his family. “I’m trying to spend as much time with them.”/p pToday, the federal government is appealing Mr. Banyee’s habeas decision, arguing that it has a right to detain him with no limit, as long as his deportation case is proceeding. The ACLU has joined AHR to defend the habeas grant, supporting Mr. Banyee’s right to have a bond hearing and be free while he challenges his deportation case./p pMandatory detention significantly impacts a person’s ability to defend against deportation and win relief to which they might be entitled. Even though immigration detention is not supposed to be a punishment, people are often detained in criminal detention settings and subject to the same rules and limitations as people who are incarcerated./p pNgo explains there is no right to government-appointed immigration counsel, so a person in immigration detention is much less likely to be represented because they can’t work and are less likely to be able to afford a lawyer. People in immigration detention also have limited phone or email access and limited language services, preventing them from engaging with the outside world, including legal services. Often, they are isolated and unable to gather evidence to defend themselves./p pThe United States’ immigration detention system is the largest in the world, Ngo notes. “The conditions of immigration detention are so horrific,” she said. “No other country holds this many immigrants to try to deport them.”/p div class=wp-heading mb-8 h2 id= class=wp-heading-h2 with-standardA Mistake Shouldn’t Mean Exile /h2 /div pLike many noncitizens, Mr. Banyee has deep roots in the U.S. and has already served his time for crimes he committed. Yet, he and many others are again deprived of their liberty through mandatory immigration detention, and face the possibility of deportation./p pSome, like Mr. Banyee, are arrested immediately after their term of incarceration ends. Others are arrested years after they complete any sentence for their convictions, even though they have reintegrated into their communities and have not had any legal troubles. For many, it feels like double punishment./p p“You shouldn’t be defined by one thing that took place in your history, and that shouldn’t consign you to a life of permanent banishment from the United States,” Ngo said./p pMr. Banyee has had significant success defending against deportation in his immigration court proceedings. An immigration judge and three members of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) have determined that he deserves cancellation of removal, meaning that if he wins his case, he can keep his lawful permanent resident status and one day become a U.S. citizen. His immigration case is currently on appeal for the second time, before the BIA, where it can take years to resolve. At the same time, he is waiting for the Eight Circuit to decide if he can remain free on bond while he awaits a decision on the deportation case./p p“Everybody makes mistakes,” Mr. Banyee said. “In my case, [I] served time, [I] actually went through the process of giving back that adhered to the principles of the society.” He feels deportation would be an extreme consequence for people, like him, who arrived in the U.S. as children, whose lives are here, and who have already served their time for past mistakes./p pMr. Banyee wants to stay in the U.S., with his family, in the country he calls home. The U.S. is the country that has molded him, that has provided him security and allowed him to have ambitious dreams while supporting his family. “I’m willing to put in the work,” he said, “just to be allowed to live that dream.”/p

pEvery year, thousands of asylum seekers from diverse corners of the world seek refuge in the United States. Many — like Indigenous people from Latin America and Africa — are fleeing persecution based on the languages they speak and their cultural, ethnic, and racial backgrounds. Their ability to access the asylum system has life-or-death consequences. Yet our government cuts off access to asylum and other fundamental rights based on language barriers alone./p pThe federal government has a responsibility to ensure people with limited English proficiency (LEP) can reasonably access its services. Failure to do so discriminates by excluding LEP people from federal programs. This infringes on LEP individuals’ constitutional due process and equal protection rights, as well as well-established language rights enshrined in federal law. Nevertheless, the government routinely denies asylum seekers critical language access throughout the asylum process./p div class=mp-md wp-link div class=wp-link__img-wrapper a href=https://www.aclu.org/documents/petition-for-rulemaking-interpreters-for-affirmative-asylum-interviews target=_blank tabindex=-1 /a /div div class=wp-link__title a href=https://www.aclu.org/documents/petition-for-rulemaking-interpreters-for-affirmative-asylum-interviews target=_blank Petition for Rulemaking: Interpreters for Affirmative Asylum Interviews /a /div div class=wp-link__description a href=https://www.aclu.org/documents/petition-for-rulemaking-interpreters-for-affirmative-asylum-interviews target=_blank tabindex=-1 p class=is-size-7-mobile is-size-6-tablet/p /a /div div class=wp-link__source p-4 px-6-tablet a href=https://www.aclu.org/documents/petition-for-rulemaking-interpreters-for-affirmative-asylum-interviews target=_blank tabindex=-1 p class=is-size-7Source: American Civil Liberties Union/p /a /div /div div class=wp-heading mb-8 hr class=mark / h2 id= class=wp-heading-h2 with-markLanguage Barriers Cut Off Access to Asylum, Cause Prolonged Detention, and Lead to Wrongful Deportations/h2 /div pStarting even outside the United States, anyone seeking asylum at the border generally must use the CBPOne app to obtain an elusive appointment. Beyond well-documented problems with accessibility, appointment shortages, racist facial recognition bugs, and other technical issues, the app is only available in English, Spanish, or Haitian Creole, with limited Russian and Portuguese features. Thousands of asylum seekers who speak other languages are a href=https://castro.house.gov/imo/media/doc/03212024lettertodhsenglish.pdfleft out/a, with dangerous a href=https://humanrightsfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Asylum-Ban-Harms-Factsheet-formatted.pdfconsequences/a for those stranded in waiting./p pLanguage access problems continue once LEP individuals finally enter the United States for asylum screening. The government a href=https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/memos/Language-Access-in-Credible-Fear-Screenings.pdfadmits/a that it struggles to provide interpreters for certain languages, especially rare or Indigenous languages, during screening interviews. As a result, asylum seekers often feel pressured to undergo interviews — which determine whether they can even pursue an asylum claim — in a more common language, even if they don’t speak it proficiently enough to communicate sensitive details of their claim./p pThose who finally get an opportunity to apply for asylum must complete their application — a complicated legal document — entirely in English. For LEP asylum seekers in government detention facilities without translation or interpretation services, that’s a href=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BS-N6hRly4e4am4iGwoeUYw0CpJgJHrd/view?usp=sharingimpossible/a. Appallingly, immigration judges have a href=https://thegrio.com/2024/03/20/congress-asks-biden-harris-admin-to-address-discrimination-against-black-mauritanians-at-border/#:~:text=Politics-,Congress%20asks%20Biden%2DHarris%20admin%20to%20address%20discrimination%20against%20Black,practices%20that%ordered/a LEP asylum seekers to be returned to the countries they fled, simply because they could not fill out their asylum application in English, even when no language services were available. Moreover, immigration courts can’t find adequate interpreters for a href=https://clarke.house.gov/clarke-leads-letter-to-dhs-and-ice-urging-release-of-detained-mauritanian-asylum-seekers-and-justice-for-rare-language-speakers/certain languages/a, leading to unnecessary and prolonged detention. Often, people are faced with an impossible choice: proceed in languages they don’t fully understand (and risk being denied protection) or give up. Effectively, the government blocks LEP people from presenting their asylum claims merely because of the language they speak — not because they lack a meritorious claim./p div class=wp-heading mb-8 hr class=mark / h2 id= class=wp-heading-h2 with-markThe Government Already Has Interpreters Available. Yet It Still Requires Affirmative Asylum Seekers to Find Their Own./h2 /div pAffirmative asylum interviews are another glaring example of the government’s discrimination against LEP asylum seekers. Affirmative asylum interviews are a critical step in the asylum process — they are the only opportunity for someone to sit down with an asylum officer and explain their fear of persecution outside of the removal process. But for decades, the government has required LEP applicants to provide their own interpreters during these interviews. This puts a substantial logistical and financial burden on LEP asylum seekers, many of whom have limited financial means, and imposes an even greater burden on those who speak rare languages with only a handful of interpreters available across the country. LEP applicants who can’t find interpreters face delays or, worse, referral to removal proceedings./p pFinancial constraints force many applicants to use friends or family members to interpret. Serious ethical and practical concerns follow. Applicants may hesitate to share the full scope of their trauma or asylum claim with loved ones; untrained interpreters may lack an understanding of professional norms of confidentiality and conduct for interpretation or may struggle to accurately translate technical legal terminology. Inaccurate interpretation prevents applicants from fully presenting their claims, and can cause erroneous credibility findings./p pThe interpreter requirement is also inefficient and illogical. The government already contracts professional interpreters who monitor the quality of applicant-provided interpreters during interviews. That’s right: the government already pays for interpreters to participate in these interviews. It has a href=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/09/23/2020-21073/asylum-interview-interpreter-requirement-modification-due-to-covid-19stated/a on a href=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/03/16/2022-05636/asylum-interview-interpreter-requirement-modification-due-to-covid-19multiple/a a href=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/03/17/2023-05572/asylum-interview-interpreter-requirement-modification-due-to-covid-19occasions/a that these contract monitors can provide more efficient interpretation at no additional cost. But asylum officers regularly reschedule interviews when applicants fail to bring an interpreter, even though the government’s interpreter is already present./p pDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, the government temporarily permitted applicants to use contract monitors as interpreters during asylum interviews. But the government recently and abruptly a href=https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/affirmative-asylum-applicants-must-provide-interpreters-starting-sept-13ended/a this policy without explanation, once again requiring applicants to bring their own interpreters. Now, more than ever, the government faces an unprecedented backlog of affirmative asylum cases with an outdated, inefficient, and discriminatory interpreter rule./p div class=wp-heading mb-8 hr class=mark / h2 id= class=wp-heading-h2 with-markThe Government Should Abandon Its Outdated and Discriminatory Rule/h2 /div pThe ACLU is fighting back. Along with 52 organizations from across the country, a href=https://www.aclu.org/documents/petition-for-rulemaking-interpreters-for-affirmative-asylum-interviewswe are petitioning/a the government to abandon its illogical and discriminatory rule requiring applicants to bring their own interpreters. Our ask is simple and common sense: change the regulation and permit asylum applicants to use the government-funded interpreters already present during asylum interviews at the applicant’s discretion. This will ensure that LEP asylum seekers have a meaningful opportunity to present their asylum claims and make one small but significant step toward bridging the gaps in language access in our asylum system./p

pSeeking lives of safety and opportunity, people coming to the United States as migrants and asylum-seekers may carry only their most essential and beloved possessions. When they arrive in the U.S. and are taken into Border Patrol custody, many migrants endure the devastating loss of their property: Border Patrol agents routinely confiscate, trash, or force them to throw away their precious belongings./p div class=mp-md wp-link div class=wp-link__img-wrapper a href=https://www.aclu.org/publications/from-hope-to-heartbreak-the-disturbing-reality-of-border-patrols-confiscation-of-migrants-belongings target=_blank tabindex=-1 img width=1216 height=680 src=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-13-at-1.02.10-PM.png class=attachment-4x3_full size-4x3_full alt=An individual holding a small bag of important belongings and documents. decoding=async loading=lazy srcset=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-13-at-1.02.10-PM.png 1216w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-13-at-1.02.10-PM-768x429.png 768w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-13-at-1.02.10-PM-400x224.png 400w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-13-at-1.02.10-PM-600x336.png 600w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-13-at-1.02.10-PM-800x447.png 800w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-13-at-1.02.10-PM-1000x559.png 1000w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-13-at-1.02.10-PM-1200x671.png 1200w sizes=(max-width: 1216px) 100vw, 1216px / /a /div div class=wp-link__title a href=https://www.aclu.org/publications/from-hope-to-heartbreak-the-disturbing-reality-of-border-patrols-confiscation-of-migrants-belongings target=_blank From Hope to Heartbreak: The Disturbing Reality of Border Patrol's Confiscation of Migrants' Belongings /a /div div class=wp-link__source p-4 px-6-tablet a href=https://www.aclu.org/publications/from-hope-to-heartbreak-the-disturbing-reality-of-border-patrols-confiscation-of-migrants-belongings target=_blank tabindex=-1 p class=is-size-7Source: American Civil Liberties Union/p /a /div /div pIn a new report published in partnership with organizations working on the southern border, From Hope to Heartbreak, we document routine cases of this abusive treatment focusing on confiscation of medication and medical devices, legal and identity documents, religious items, and items of financial, practical, or sentimental value./p pThe report relies heavily on hundreds of intakes conducted by the Kino Border Initiative (KBI), which runs a migrant aid center along Mexico’s border with Arizona, and ProtectAZ Health, which offers free medical screenings and care to migrants in Phoenix./p div class=wp-heading mb-8 h2 id= class=wp-heading-h2 with-standardMedications and Medical Devices/h2 /div figure class=wp-image mb-8 img width=1280 height=960 src=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Medications-Near-Yuma-Arizona-December-2023.jpeg class=attachment-original size-original alt=A pile of various medical materials. decoding=async loading=lazy srcset=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Medications-Near-Yuma-Arizona-December-2023.jpeg 1280w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Medications-Near-Yuma-Arizona-December-2023-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Medications-Near-Yuma-Arizona-December-2023-400x300.jpeg 400w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Medications-Near-Yuma-Arizona-December-2023-600x450.jpeg 600w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Medications-Near-Yuma-Arizona-December-2023-800x600.jpeg 800w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Medications-Near-Yuma-Arizona-December-2023-1000x750.jpeg 1000w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Medications-Near-Yuma-Arizona-December-2023-1200x900.jpeg 1200w sizes=(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px / /figure pBorder Patrol and its parent agency, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), have routinely confiscated life-saving medications and medical devices from adults and children who have illnesses such as seizure disorders, high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, and genetic conditions./p pCBP agents took a 5-year-old girl’s epilepsy medications away from her mother. When the little girl, whom we are calling Rosa, experienced convulsions, she was taken to the hospital. When she was discharged from the hospital and returned to CBP custody with new medications and special dietary supplements, CBP agents confiscated those. Not until the family was released to a shelter in Las Cruces, New Mexico, did Rosa receive the medical care she needed./p pDepriving people of their necessary medication obviously risks their health and safety. It also adds stress to local hospital systems, as people need to visit the emergency room or be hospitalized because their health deteriorates from missing their medication./p pProtectAZ received a 13-year-old boy, whom we are calling Leonel, at their shelter. Leonel has a genetic condition in which he lacks a necessary amino acid that prevents the build up of ammonia in his body. The condition can have serious consequences if untreated, including seizures, coma and death. Leonel needed to take daily supplements, but they were confiscated by Border Patrol in Casa Grande, Arizona. At the ProtectAZ shelter, Leonel’s health deteriorated, and he had to be admitted to the hospital for a week to stabilize his condition./p pIn a separate occurrence, a 7-year-old boy with moderate-persistent asthma was detained for two days. His inhaler was taken away, and he wasn#8217;t given a replacement. After being released, he developed respiratory symptoms, and his condition worsened quickly. His family took him to the emergency department, and he was transferred to a pediatric intensive care unit./p div class=wp-heading mb-8 h2 id= class=wp-heading-h2 with-standardLegal and Identity Documents/h2 /div figure class=wp-image mb-8 img width=3000 height=2335 src=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Honduran-passport-and-birth-certificate-Near-border-wall-in-South-Texas-September-2021-Photo-credit_-Scott-Nicol-scaled.jpeg class=attachment-original size-original alt=A honduran passport. decoding=async loading=lazy srcset=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Honduran-passport-and-birth-certificate-Near-border-wall-in-South-Texas-September-2021-Photo-credit_-Scott-Nicol-scaled.jpeg 3000w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Honduran-passport-and-birth-certificate-Near-border-wall-in-South-Texas-September-2021-Photo-credit_-Scott-Nicol-768x598.jpeg 768w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Honduran-passport-and-birth-certificate-Near-border-wall-in-South-Texas-September-2021-Photo-credit_-Scott-Nicol-1536x1196.jpeg 1536w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Honduran-passport-and-birth-certificate-Near-border-wall-in-South-Texas-September-2021-Photo-credit_-Scott-Nicol-2048x1594.jpeg 2048w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Honduran-passport-and-birth-certificate-Near-border-wall-in-South-Texas-September-2021-Photo-credit_-Scott-Nicol-400x311.jpeg 400w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Honduran-passport-and-birth-certificate-Near-border-wall-in-South-Texas-September-2021-Photo-credit_-Scott-Nicol-600x467.jpeg 600w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Honduran-passport-and-birth-certificate-Near-border-wall-in-South-Texas-September-2021-Photo-credit_-Scott-Nicol-800x623.jpeg 800w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Honduran-passport-and-birth-certificate-Near-border-wall-in-South-Texas-September-2021-Photo-credit_-Scott-Nicol-1000x778.jpeg 1000w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Honduran-passport-and-birth-certificate-Near-border-wall-in-South-Texas-September-2021-Photo-credit_-Scott-Nicol-1200x934.jpeg 1200w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Honduran-passport-and-birth-certificate-Near-border-wall-in-South-Texas-September-2021-Photo-credit_-Scott-Nicol-1400x1090.jpeg 1400w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Honduran-passport-and-birth-certificate-Near-border-wall-in-South-Texas-September-2021-Photo-credit_-Scott-Nicol-1600x1246.jpeg 1600w sizes=(max-width: 3000px) 100vw, 3000px / /figure pConfiscating or destroying legal and identity documents, such as birth certificates, passports, medical records, and documents to substantiate asylum claims, has been a hallmark of Border Patrol’s operations./p pOne man told KBI that Border Patrol agents tore his birth certificate up in front of him. He managed to save his Mexican identity card because he had hidden it in his shoe. Advocates in the Rio Grande Valley Sector in Texas report finding discarded documents that could be important in substantiating asylum claims, such as police reports and medical records. Volunteers with the Borderlands Collective in San Diego say document confiscation is especially concerning for parents of minor children, who may not be able to prove that they are family without their children’s birth records./p p“Passports are very important here,” one person had shared. “To open an account, to identify yourself, and I don’t have that document. I don’t have the children’s birth records because they took them from me. That makes me feel terrible.”/p pMigrants who are deported, expelled or returned to Mexico cannot withdraw or receive money without identity documents. Confiscated or destroyed documents pose a significant barrier to asylum-seekers’ ability to substantiate their claims. The Children’s Legal Center sued Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on behalf of 68 asylum-seekers whose documents the agency had confiscated. The lawsuit argues the confiscation violates the plaintiffs’ due process rights to seek work authorization and to support their asylum cases./p div class=wp-heading mb-8 h2 id= class=wp-heading-h2 with-standardReligious Items/h2 /div figure class=wp-image mb-8 img width=1280 height=960 src=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Religious-items-Near-Yuma-Arizona-April-2023.jpeg class=attachment-original size-original alt=A pile of religious items, including a small Buddha statue and an image of the Virgin Mary. decoding=async loading=lazy srcset=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Religious-items-Near-Yuma-Arizona-April-2023.jpeg 1280w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Religious-items-Near-Yuma-Arizona-April-2023-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Religious-items-Near-Yuma-Arizona-April-2023-400x300.jpeg 400w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Religious-items-Near-Yuma-Arizona-April-2023-600x450.jpeg 600w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Religious-items-Near-Yuma-Arizona-April-2023-800x600.jpeg 800w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Religious-items-Near-Yuma-Arizona-April-2023-1000x750.jpeg 1000w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Religious-items-Near-Yuma-Arizona-April-2023-1200x900.jpeg 1200w sizes=(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px / /figure pOver the summer of 2022, there was a spike in reports of Border Patrol taking away Sikh asylum-seekers’ turbans. Forcing a Sikh person to remove their turban is a serious violation of their faith. #8220;They told me to take off my turban. I know a little English, and I said, ‘It’s my religion.#8217; But they insisted.#8221; The man pleaded with the officers, but they forced him to remove his turban and toss it in a pile of trash. He asked if he could at least keep his turban for when he was released from custody, but they told him no./p pWhile Border Patrol has since taken positive steps forward on how it handles turbans and other Sikh articles of faith, the agency’s religious freedom violations aren’t limited to people of the Sikh faith. A person told KBI that Border Patrol agents took his Bible, which he told them had significant spiritual meaning to him, and trashed it in front of him. Border Patrol agents in Yuma told several Muslim migrants they had to throw away their prayer mats. One of the men said his prayer mat had been in his family for more than 100 years./p div class=mp-md wp-link div class=wp-link__img-wrapper a href=https://action.aclu.org/petition/border-patrol-must-stop-trashing-migrant%E2%80%99s-cherished-belongings target=_blank tabindex=-1 img width=1000 height=655 src=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-13-at-1.21.07-PM.png class=attachment-4x3_full size-4x3_full alt=An illustration of a young woman walking nervously with a backpack. decoding=async loading=lazy srcset=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-13-at-1.21.07-PM.png 1000w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-13-at-1.21.07-PM-768x503.png 768w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-13-at-1.21.07-PM-400x262.png 400w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-13-at-1.21.07-PM-600x393.png 600w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-13-at-1.21.07-PM-800x524.png 800w sizes=(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px / /a /div div class=wp-link__title a href=https://action.aclu.org/petition/border-patrol-must-stop-trashing-migrant%E2%80%99s-cherished-belongings target=_blank BORDER PATROL MUST STOP TRASHING MIGRANT’S CHERISHED BELONGINGS /a /div div class=wp-link__description a href=https://action.aclu.org/petition/border-patrol-must-stop-trashing-migrant%E2%80%99s-cherished-belongings target=_blank tabindex=-1 p class=is-size-7-mobile is-size-6-tabletIf you believe that people seeking refuge in our country deserve to be welcomed with dignity, join us by advocating for change./p /a /div div class=wp-link__source p-4 px-6-tablet a href=https://action.aclu.org/petition/border-patrol-must-stop-trashing-migrant%E2%80%99s-cherished-belongings target=_blank tabindex=-1 p class=is-size-7Source: American Civil Liberties Union/p /a /div /div pMigrants’ religious freedom is protected both by the First Amendment and the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which provides additional protection for the free exercise of religion. Some asylum-seekers are fleeing religious persecution in their home countries, and the experience of CBP violating their religious faith can be a retraumatizing experience. CBP has been made aware of their violations for years, suggesting a failure of CBP policy and practice to fully respect the religious freedom rights of migrants and asylum-seekers./p div class=wp-heading mb-8 h2 id= class=wp-heading-h2 with-standardItems of Practical, Financial, or Sentimental Value/h2 /div figure class=wp-image mb-8 img width=1200 height=980 src=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Personal-documents-including-vaccination-records-money-and-a-cellphone-Near-Lukeville-AZ-May-2023.jpeg class=attachment-original size-original alt=A collection of documents, money, and a damaged smartphone. decoding=async loading=lazy srcset=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Personal-documents-including-vaccination-records-money-and-a-cellphone-Near-Lukeville-AZ-May-2023.jpeg 1200w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Personal-documents-including-vaccination-records-money-and-a-cellphone-Near-Lukeville-AZ-May-2023-768x627.jpeg 768w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Personal-documents-including-vaccination-records-money-and-a-cellphone-Near-Lukeville-AZ-May-2023-400x327.jpeg 400w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Personal-documents-including-vaccination-records-money-and-a-cellphone-Near-Lukeville-AZ-May-2023-600x490.jpeg 600w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Personal-documents-including-vaccination-records-money-and-a-cellphone-Near-Lukeville-AZ-May-2023-800x653.jpeg 800w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAPTION_-Personal-documents-including-vaccination-records-money-and-a-cellphone-Near-Lukeville-AZ-May-2023-1000x817.jpeg 1000w sizes=(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px / /figure pMigrants have regularly reported Border Patrol agents confiscate their money and cellphones. These items are of clear value and represent a devastating loss: impoverishment and loss of contact with loved ones. Several migrants told KBI they lost the equivalent of hundreds of dollars to Border Patrol. One man described seeing a Border Patrol agent take 3,000 pesos from another man and rip it up in his face. Other migrants described the loss of family photos on their confiscated cellphones./p pConfiscation of clothing appears to be widespread in Border Patrol custody, leaving migrants with only a single layer of clothing. “The official asked me how many shirts I had, and I responded that I had two shirts plus a sweater. The official started laughing and told me I had to take everything off but one shirt,” one person recounted./p pVolunteers and shelters supporting migrants are critical of this practice, especially during the winter and if migrants are traveling north. One shelter in Las Cruces, New Mexico, said it spent $100,000 every month to provide clothes to migrants. Once the Border Patrol sectors in New Mexico reduced their confiscation of people’s clothes, the shelter reported reducing costs for clothing people by half./p pFinally, migrants report having their cherished belongings confiscated or trashed – children’s toys, heirloom jewelry, and even a loved one’s ashes. One man said Border Patrol agents forced him to throw away his father’s ashes – his father had died while journeying to the U.S. from Nicaragua./p div class=wp-heading mb-8 h2 id= class=wp-heading-h2 with-standardThe Systematic Confiscation of Migrants' Belongings at the U.S. Southern Border, Despite the Vast Resources Available to Border Patrol, is Indefensible/h2 /div pCBP’s practice of property confiscation and destruction isn’t only cruel, unnecessary, and, in some cases, life-threatening, in many cases, it likely violates federal law and policy. We outline achievable policy changes that CBP can adopt to protect the dignity, safety, and rights of people arriving in the U.S./p pBorder Patrol must ensure migrants in its custody and those released from custody have continuous access to their medications and medical devices. Migrants should be allowed to keep as many of their personal belongings as possible in custody and after they are released. CBP must change its policies to comply with federal safeguards of religious freedom in its treatment of people’s religious garb and religious items./p pThe bottom line is that CBP can and must do better to live up to our nation’s values and commitments to people seeking safety within our borders. People seeking refuge in the U.S. deserve to be welcomed with dignity./p div class=rss-ctadiv class=rss-cta__subtitleWhat you can do:/divdiv class=rss-cta__titleTell Congress: Protect families seeking asylum/diva href=https://action.aclu.org/send-message/tell-congress-protect-families-seeking-asylum class=rss-cta__buttonSend your message/a/div

pThe Senate voted on Wednesday against a bill that would have been the first major overhaul of asylum and immigration law in a generation — and would have been a disastrous retreat from basic principles of fairness. As our elected leaders continue to debate immigration reforms, they must instead advance humane and sensible solutions that help manage the border without compromising our nation’s values and the safety of people fleeing danger./p pAlthough branded as a compromise bipartisan “border security” package, this bill would have been a major rewrite of our nation’s long-standing asylum laws. To make matters worse, these changes were attached to a supplemental funding bill that also included a massive investment in failed and punitive immigration enforcement policies, such as funding to finish former President Trump’s border wall, an expansion of nationwide immigration detention, and a significant increase in surveillance targeting immigrant families. Although ostensibly dead, Senate Republicans are reportedly trying again to push for another vote on this immigration package as an amendment to foreign aid, plus additional extremist policies that would remove protections from unaccompanied children./p div class=wp-heading mb-8 h2 id= class=wp-heading-h2 with-standard1. It would have shut down the U.S.-Mexico border to asylum seekers/h2 /div pAt its core lay a new rule that would have fundamentally blocked asylum for the vast majority of people who come to our southern border seeking protection. Under this new rule, once an average of 5,000 people arrive at the border daily over a seven-day period, or 8,500 people on a single day, no one would be eligible to apply for asylum between ports of entry. Furthermore, the government would have gained the power to enforce this “no-asylum” rule when there is an average of 4,000 people per day over a seven-day period./p a href=https://www.aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/showing-up-to-protect-the-right-to-seek-asylum class=wp-link mb-8 target=_blank div class=p-4-mobile p-6-tablet div class=mb-4 div class=wp-link__img-wrapper is-relative img width=1200 height=628 src=https://wp.api.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/26f980d9135735ce0b525d8e63cce9ca.jpg class=attachment-original size-original alt= decoding=async loading=lazy srcset=https://wp.api.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/26f980d9135735ce0b525d8e63cce9ca.jpg 1200w, https://wp.api.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/26f980d9135735ce0b525d8e63cce9ca-768x402.jpg 768w, https://wp.api.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/26f980d9135735ce0b525d8e63cce9ca-400x209.jpg 400w, https://wp.api.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/26f980d9135735ce0b525d8e63cce9ca-600x314.jpg 600w, https://wp.api.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/26f980d9135735ce0b525d8e63cce9ca-800x419.jpg 800w, https://wp.api.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/26f980d9135735ce0b525d8e63cce9ca-1000x523.jpg 1000w sizes=(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px / /div /div div class= div class=wp-link__title h3 class=is-size-6-mobile pr-4 Showing Up to Protect the Right to Seek Asylum /h3 /div div class=wp-link__description pr-3 mt-1 p class=is-size-7-mobile is-size-6-tabletFor decades, the ACLU has worked to protect the rights of asylum seekers./p /div /div /div div class=wp-link__source p-4 px-6-tablet p class=is-size-7Source: American Civil Liberties Union/p /div /a pThis was poised to become an operational nightmare, and there’s no need for speculation regarding the horrible consequences if the government implemented this rule. We need only to look back at the chaotic and violent days under the Trump era Title 42 policy, which similarly closed our asylum system under the guise of public health. During that period a href=https://humanrightsfirst.org/title-42/#:~:text=As%20of%20December%202022%2C%20Human,since%20President%20Biden%20took%20officeover 13,480/a people were raped, murdered, kidnapped, tortured, or extorted while waiting for the border to reopen. As history has taught us, this new rule would not have stopped people from seeking safety in the U.S., but people who have undoubtedly been sent back to danger as a result./p div class=wp-heading mb-8 h2 id= class=wp-heading-h2 with-standard2. This plan would have fundamentally changed our country’s core protections for people seeking safety/h2 /div pEven when people were allowed to apply for asylum, they would have been subject to a mind-boggling and dangerous fast-track deportation process, with punishing timelines for those who could not meet new restrictive screening tests./p pIf passed, the vast majority of asylum seekers would no longer be able to seek court review of their cases, representing a major shift from our asylum and legal system. This would have denied them one of the most essential due process safeguards in a system riddled with errors. Independent judicial review has been a life-saving protection, with courts a href=https://humanrightsfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Preserve_Judicial_Review_of_Asylum_Decisions-formatted.pdfconsistently finding /athat asylum officers wrongly denied people protection. Asylum officers currently conduct their case screenings and interviews with the understanding that their work will be checked by an immigration judge. Eliminating that legal review would have meant sacrificing basic fairness in cases where life or death is at stake./p div class=wp-heading mb-8 h2 id= class=wp-heading-h2 with-standard3. An unprecedented increase in funding for punitive immigration policies would have been a waste of taxpayer dollars/h2 /div pThe other major story about this bill is the money. It was a shockingly punitive, pro-detention bill that revived the construction of Trump’s failed border wall and included an unprecedented $3.2 billion for immigration detention — more than even allocated or requested under the previous administration. The bill also included over a billion dollars for surveillance technology that would subject individuals and a href=https://www.aclu-or.org/en/news/whats-hiding-immigration-border-deal-more-mass-surveillancefamilies/a to 24-hour suspicionless surveillance. This amounted to $4.5 billion dollars directed towards harmful and punitive immigration enforcement measures that would have impacted all immigrant families throughout the United States. Most of that funding would have lined the pockets of the for-profit prison industry, which stands to get a href=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/07/us-immigration-surveillance-ice-bi-isapbillions more/a in taxpayer dollars and without the overdue oversight and accountability./p a href=https://www.aclu-or.org/en/news/whats-hiding-immigration-border-deal-more-mass-surveillance class=wp-link mb-8 target=_blank rel=noreferrer noopener div class=p-4-mobile p-6-tablet div class=mb-4 div class=wp-link__img-wrapper is-relative img width=1200 height=630 src=https://wp.api.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2168519ceac1da204c4f825d20480d5a.jpg class=attachment-original size-original alt= decoding=async loading=lazy srcset=https://wp.api.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2168519ceac1da204c4f825d20480d5a.jpg 1200w, https://wp.api.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2168519ceac1da204c4f825d20480d5a-768x403.jpg 768w, https://wp.api.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2168519ceac1da204c4f825d20480d5a-400x210.jpg 400w, https://wp.api.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2168519ceac1da204c4f825d20480d5a-600x315.jpg 600w, https://wp.api.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2168519ceac1da204c4f825d20480d5a-800x420.jpg 800w, https://wp.api.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2168519ceac1da204c4f825d20480d5a-1000x525.jpg 1000w sizes=(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px / /div /div div class= div class=wp-link__title h3 class=is-size-6-mobile pr-4 What’s Hiding in the Immigration Border Deal? More Mass Surveillance /h3 /div div class=wp-link__description pr-3 mt-1 p class=is-size-7-mobile is-size-6-tabletCongress is considering expanding a harmful surveillance program. A second Trump presidency could make those risks even more severe./p /div /div /div div class=wp-link__source p-4 px-6-tablet p class=is-size-7Source: ACLU of Oregon/p /div /a pIn addition to the unimaginable harm inflicted on immigrant families, the bill would have permanently undermined our moral standing in the world, and ensured the return of people to danger and even death./p pThere is no denying the need for real changes at our southern border. However, none of these callous and extremist policies were ever going to “fix” the border: they wouldn’t have created a fairer immigration system or helped cities, states, and communities support and welcome new immigrants. What’s more, they wouldn’t even have deterred people from seeking protection or opportunities here in the U.S., as their proponents suggested. This bill would have essentially altered who we are as a country without improving the situation at the border from any perspective./p pWith thanks to Senators Markey, Menendez, Padilla, Sanders, and Warren, all of whom voted against this deal, this harmful legislation will no longer move forward — but our work here isn’t done just yet. Now it’s time for all our elected leaders to take this failed vote as an opportunity to finally get immigration reform right and ensure we pass sensible and humane solutions to address the challenges at the border./p div class=rss-ctadiv class=rss-cta__subtitleWhat you can do:/divdiv class=rss-cta__titleTell Congress: Protect families seeking asylum/diva href=https://action.aclu.org/send-message/tell-congress-protect-families-seeking-asylum class=rss-cta__buttonSend your message/a/div

pThis week, the House Homeland Security Committee passed articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on a party-line vote. To make the case for impeachment, the Committee majority has issued five impeachment reports and conducted two committee hearings, all dominated by the false claim that the border is “open.” These efforts have featured blatant scapegoating of immigrants for serious problems confronting the nation, including the fentanyl crisis./p pThe Committee majority has profound policy disagreements with the current administration’s immigration and border management, as do we. Robust congressional oversight of DHS—a sprawling agency we have called to dismantle–is appropriate. But impeachment is an inappropriate and dangerous mechanism to use as a weapon in policy disputes and has no place where, as here, no “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors” are even conceivably on the table./p div class=wp-heading mb-8 h2 id= class=wp-heading-h2 with-standardImpeachment is a critical tool for accountability in limited circumstances, not a sledgehammer for grandstanding about policy disputes /h2 /div pGovernment officials and judges occupy positions of public trust and significant power. When an officer abuses that power by committing “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors,” the Constitution provides impeachment to hold them to account and remove them from office./p pBut because it removes officers selected by our elected representatives, impeachment is constitutionally circumscribed and is not appropriate as a means of political theater to express policy differences. As documented by scholars such as Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky in “How Democracies Die,” the erosion of norms limiting the use of tactics intended to be reserved for extreme cases, such as impeachment, is one of the hallmarks of rising authoritarianism and a danger to democracy./p pImpeachment must be reserved to address officials’ significant wrongdoing and should not be conflated with legitimate Congressional oversight or to prosecute policy or political fights. If Congress repeatedly abuses the impeachment power, it will lead to an erosion of constitutional norms and bring the regular functions of government to a standstill./p div class=alignleft mb-8 wp-pullquote div class= wp-pullquote-inner pIf Congress repeatedly abuses the impeachment power, it will lead to an erosion of constitutional norms and bring the regular functions of government to a standstill./p /div /div pThe articles of impeachment accuse Secretary Mayorkas of failing to fulfill his statutory responsibility to secure the border because, for example, he terminated the construction contracts on the a href=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.washingtonpost.com_immigration_2023_10_12_border-2Dwall-2Dbiden-2Dtrump-2Dpolicies_amp;d=DwMGaQamp;c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQamp;r=HZGkFhQuFBOJLgy2Y4Vn8UWtAzXVlVFZlAc5gytnjM0amp;m=FII1u5eWmY15K_iCA9FwJR4m18u5OSfGqNPCItZW3t68HjnEML5macbiTffes64namp;s=neponDgeVbz_vsVZdoazEHPvDaBEok7bCZ0PiTx2BT8amp;e=ineffective border wall/a. They do not allege that he exceeded his authority to do so, much less that he has committed an impeachable offense./p pThe case against Secretary Mayorkas relies heavily on DHS’s alleged failure to heed statutory detention mandates. As explained in a href=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.aclu.org_cases_united-2Dstates-2Dv-2Dtexasamp;d=DwMGaQamp;c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQamp;r=HZGkFhQuFBOJLgy2Y4Vn8UWtAzXVlVFZlAc5gytnjM0amp;m=FII1u5eWmY15K_iCA9FwJR4m18u5OSfGqNPCItZW3t68HjnEML5macbiTffes64namp;s=MJ3dloli2IDwGJ7MOpSCS354H6DxHrLiA3OGOZiyzZ4amp;e=an ACLU amicus brief/a to the Supreme Court, however, every administration has exercised prosecutorial discretion regarding deportation and detention decisions. The government cannot possibly detain millions of immigrants at a time, and never has. The articles of impeachment also fault Mayorkas for using the President’s parole authority to allegedly circumvent a detention mandate. Yet for decades, presidents of both parties have used parole authority to help people affected by humanitarian disasters find safety in the U.S./p div class=wp-heading mb-8 h2 id= class=wp-heading-h2 with-standardThe Committee’s assertions about immigration are factually wrong /h2 /div pContrary to some members’ assertions, the fentanyl crisis has little to do with migration. Data shows that most fentanyl coming into the U.S. is smuggled by U.S. citizens at ports of entry. According to a a href=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.cato.org_blog_fentanyl-2Dsmuggled-2Dus-2Dcitizens-2Dus-2Dcitizens-2Dnot-2Dasylum-2Dseekersamp;d=DwMGaQamp;c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQamp;r=HZGkFhQuFBOJLgy2Y4Vn8UWtAzXVlVFZlAc5gytnjM0amp;m=FII1u5eWmY15K_iCA9FwJR4m18u5OSfGqNPCItZW3t68HjnEML5macbiTffes64namp;s=P9WMWsglrRaiDCfuyob8kdrK3CmtkWw66UL8wO5d440amp;e=Cato Institute study/a, only 0.02 percent of people arrested by the Border Patrol for crossing illegally into the U.S. possessed any fentanyl. 88 percent of convicted fentanyl traffickers in fiscal year 2022 were U.S. citizens according to a href=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.ussc.gov_sites_default_files_pdf_research-2Dand-2Dpublications_quick-2Dfacts_Fentanyl-5FFY22.pdfamp;d=DwMGaQamp;c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQamp;r=HZGkFhQuFBOJLgy2Y4Vn8UWtAzXVlVFZlAc5gytnjM0amp;m=FII1u5eWmY15K_iCA9FwJR4m18u5OSfGqNPCItZW3t68HjnEML5macbiTffes64namp;s=a0a5nuVOj4gWaF5PZ7z3p5_zz69K5oNdH0PqohlsW5Iamp;e=U.S. Sentencing Commission data/a./p pThey also allege that the U.S. stopped enforcing the laws and threw open the border. The reality is far, far different. Due to climate change, war, and a range of other global factors, record numbers of people are seeking safety in the United States and in many countries around the world. Customs and Border Patrol a href=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.cbp.gov_newsroom_stats_cbp-2Denforcement-2Dstatisticsamp;d=DwMGaQamp;c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQamp;r=HZGkFhQuFBOJLgy2Y4Vn8UWtAzXVlVFZlAc5gytnjM0amp;m=FII1u5eWmY15K_iCA9FwJR4m18u5OSfGqNPCItZW3t68HjnEML5macbiTffes64namp;s=uwk6U4Zhes7Sh7IkPZ8NCGF3QTvHng8ZUTvMj3NN6dIamp;e=enforcement actions have increased dramatically/a as a result. Indeed, the ACLU has sued the Biden administration for illegally restricting the ability of families seeking a new life in the U.S. to apply for asylum./p pOur immigration and border management systems need to be modernized, including by increasing resources in processing at ports of entry and in immigration courts and USCIS to address the enormous case backlogs, not to mention by creating a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and other long-term U.S. residents who are contributing members of U.S. communities. Year after year, however, Congress fails to legislate solutions./p div class=wp-heading mb-8 h2 id= class=wp-heading-h2 with-standardLawmakers should think about the long-term health of our democratic institutions /h2 /div pAs a matter of policy, the ACLU generally takes no position on the impeachment of political leaders. We do, however, warn against using impeachment as a tool for settling partisan scores or debating legitimate policy disputes.  In the case of Secretary Mayorkas, we did not endorse his nomination and will not lobby members of Congress to vote for or against his impeachment.  But we urge members of both parties to consider the long-term impact of their votes on the functioning of our democratic institutions when they invoke their impeachment powers./p div class=rss-cta__titleWe need you with us to keep fighting/diva href=https://action.aclu.org/give/now class=rss-cta__buttonDonate today/a/div