Supplemental Funding Package Would Eviscerate Longstanding Protections for Families and Others Seeking Safety

WASHINGTON — A group of Senators today released the framework for a deal that would eviscerate protections for people seeking asylum in exchange for unrelated foreign aid. Following weeks of closed-door negotiations, lawmakers agreed to include anti-immigrant policies that would significantly and permanently restrict the ability of families and individuals to seek safety in the U.S., while doing too little to aid communities receiving newly arriving immigrants.  

In response to the framework, Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said: 

“Deportation without due process was the Trump administration's disastrous experiment which should never be repeated, let alone used as a model for permanent border policy. This deal would force the government to summarily expel people from the border without due process, restricting legal pathways for the people who need them most. Our immigration system needs to be modernized to address the challenges at the border, but adopting variations of Stephen Miller’s playbook will only perpetuate chaos and leave more people vulnerable to human traffickers and cartels.  

“Eliminating longstanding, core due process protections like court review of asylum cases and doubling down on harmful deterrence and detention policies are not going to get cities and states the support they need, nor are they a substitute for policies that would improve border management and address the immigration case backlog. This deal also fails to deliver on years of promises to enact reforms providing pathways to citizenship for Dreamers and other longtime residents.    

“Members of Congress and the Biden administration must reject measures that would eviscerate longstanding asylum protections and instead mobilize the political will to pass humane and effective immigration policies that meet the needs of the current moment.”