The Trump administration has been taking aggressive steps to reduce the number of refugees who are granted asylum in the United States. Besides reducing the availability of asylum generally for refugees, the administration has put restrictions in place intended to make seeking asylum much more difficult. Immigrant rights activists argue these policies also make life more dangerous for asylum seekers. Many of the policies have raised questions as to their legality, in addition to their safety for migrants. Immigrant rights groups have taken steps to remedy the actions of the federal government, including measures that are giving asylum seekers access to legal help in the U.S. that they would otherwise be unable to receive.
Exporting Asylum Claims to Honduras
The U.S. recently signed an “Asylum Cooperation Agreement” with Honduras to essentially outsource asylum claims from the U.S. to Honduras, a country known to be extremely dangerous even for its own citizens. Under the terms of the agreement, families seeking asylum at the U.S. southern border can be flown to Honduras to seek asylum there instead. If Honduras rejects their asylum petition, then they will be precluded from seeking asylum in the U.S. If Honduras accepts their asylum petition, then they will be forced to stay in Honduras, a tiny nation with limited space, widespread corruption, and violence.
Immigrant rights activists claim that the agreement is not only dangerous and an abdication of the United States’ moral responsibility to accept refugees fleeing from violence, but it also violates domestic and international law including the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the 1951 Refugee Convention, and the 1967 UN Protocol on Refugees.
Efforts to Help Stranded Asylees in Texas
Among other measures, the administration is also forcing asylum seekers to wait outside the U.S. while their applications for asylum are pending. Being forced to stay outside the country while seeking asylum increases the risk that an applicant will be harmed by the forces from which they were fleeing in the first place, or by exposure to the danger of certain border communities. Moreover, being isolated across the border makes it more difficult for applicants to obtain any legal assistance within the U.S.& Immigrant rights organizations have been working to remedy the problems created by the administration’s policies.
Recently, organizations from both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border have implemented a plan to help asylum seekers who have been forced to remain in Mexico while their asylum petitions are pending. Texas State Senator Jose Rodriguez and Juarez Mayor Armando Cabada have spearheaded a program and established infrastructure to permit asylum seekers to video-conference with U.S.-based lawyers while they wait in Mexico for the outcome of their cases. The program is being put into place by a variety of organizations, including the Hispanic Federation, which is providing 50 computers for teleconferencing efforts, the Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society & Pro bono lawyers are being recruited and trained to offer advice to asylum seekers. The groups hope to expand the program to other areas on the southern border.
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