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AANHPI legislators and advocates are condemning President Joe Biden’s latest executive order which drastically restricts asylum requests.
According to Reuters, the executive order temporarily shuts down asylum requests once the daily average border arrests exceed 2,500 over the course of a week. In April, border arrests averaged 4,300 per day.
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Chair Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) said she was “disappointed at the enforcement-only-strategies” Biden announced on Tuesday.
“Rather than address humanitarian issues at the border effectively and with the nuance they deserve, today’s actions will gut protections for countless migrants exercising their legal right to claim asylum,” Rep. Chu said in a statement. “Rather than decimate the ability for those fleeing violence or persecution to seek asylum based on an arbitrary numerical cap, we should be redirecting our efforts to modernize ports of entry, expand legal pathways for migrants, and address the root causes of migration.”
National Korean American Service and Education Consortium also released a statement condemning the executive order.
“This new rule is wrong,” NAKASEC co-director Jung Woo Kim said. “It makes it harder for people to come to the United States to escape danger. People who are fleeing violence, persecution, or disasters shouldn’t be turned away. Everyone deserves to be safe. This rule goes against international laws that protect people in need. We at NAKASEC strongly oppose this. It pits immigrants against each other and doesn’t solve the real problems of migration. People will always move for a better life, and we should have a fair system to help them. President Biden’s administration promised to be better, but this rule is a step backward. It’s not what America stands for.”
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