May – June Media Report

Biden Administration restricts asylum access even further with draconian executive order.

KBI and people on the move at the Migrant Outreach Center were heartbroken to hear of President Biden’s sweeping order that drastically rolled back asylum access. Under the new order, the US would suspend processing most asylum claims if the seven-day average of crossings outside the ports of entry were more than 2,500. The order made it even more difficult for someone to secure an asylum hearing, and also pushed people back towards the CBP One app as the exclusive means of beginning the asylum process, despite well-documented and catastrophic issues with the app. Yet people on the move, and KBI, remain relentlessly hopeful. Read reflections from our Executive Director, Joanna Williams, here.

Hundreds of people being returned to Mexico without any access to asylum process.

As a direct result of the executive order, hundreds of families, many with young children, have been deported to Mexico each day. Often, they have received no asylum screening or access to the asylum process whatsoever, even if they are fleeing violence. “Even after they explained to the Border Patrol agents … they are fleeing from violence and persecution, or explicitly asking for asylum, they’re being summarily ignored and deported to Mexico, explained Director of Education and Advocacy Pedro De Velasco.

Arizona House and Senate pass HCR 2060, leaving it up to voters in November.

In November, voters in Arizona will decide whether to implement the “Secure the Border Act,” which would make it a state crime to enter Arizona somewhere other than an official port of entry. The threshold for detaining someone on the suspicion of doing so is dangerously low. KBI joined with other advocates in decrying the move and explaining that potential consequences of implementing this law could include separations of children from their parents, targeting of people of color similar to ways seen under SB 1070, and jailing large numbers of people.

Government Accountability Office confirms pattern of losing, discarding migrant belongings.

A report released by the Government Accountability Office reached the same conclusion that KBI reached years ago: Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have a pervasive pattern of confiscating, discarding, and losing migrant belongings. The report showed that CBP continues to take critical items like birth certificates, medications, religious items, and contact information – often with little to no clarity on how a person on the move can retrieve them. This lack of clarity often results in agents discarding these items that people on the move urgently need. “The GAO called on CBP to improve its procedures for handling migrants’ property and to standardize those across all its facilities.”