Oasis Condemns the Biden Administration’s New Asylum Ban at the
U.S.-Mexico Border

The Biden Administration has published a new rule aimed at stopping asylum seekers at our southern border from seeking safety in the United States. Beginning May 11, 2023, a significantly limited number of people will now be eligible to seek asylum in the US. The new rule restricts asylum eligibility only to people who:

a) Have been granted prior permission to enter the US;
b) Are able to make an appointment to present themselves at the border using a complicated and racially biased online app; OR
c) Have applied for asylum in the countries they traveled through en route to the US border and were denied asylum.

This new rule codifies some of the very same restrictions that the Trump administration tried to enact – that were struck down by the courts – and which Biden denounced during his campaign. In the short public comment period available when the rule was initially proposed, over 50,000 comments were filed in opposition. 

This rule is part of a larger set of policies that the Biden Administration is putting into effect, and while some of the added policies will be beneficial to some migrants (including expanding legal pathways for those in danger and increasing family reunification efforts), the improvements alone cannot make up for the administration slamming the door on asylum seekers.

Oasis Legal Services’ Executive Director, Adam Ryan Chang, expressed his deep concern about the consequences of this dangerous rule:

Asylum seekers already face abuse and exploitation when escaping their home countries and this new rule increases structural barriers to the asylum protections guaranteed to them under long-standing US and international law. This rule converts asylum into a privilege for the wealthy and makes it unattainable for the communities that Oasis serves – LGBTQ+, Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income members of the community. Requiring people to apply for asylum in another country, or wait in Mexico until they secure an appointment through a dysfunctional app, ignores the documented human rights abuses against queer and trans people in Mexico and Central America. The United States has a responsibility to uphold its duty to provide the basic human right of asylum and not just pay lip service to our moral obligation and legal duty to provide a safe haven for those fleeing violence and persecution.

On May 11, 2023 the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, and National Immigrant Justice Center filed a legal challenge to the asylum ban, arguing that our immigration laws do not allow the government to restrict an asylum seeker’s right to apply based on their manner of entry or whether they have applied for asylum elsewhere. The lawsuit builds on the successful arguments used against the Trump Administration’s asylum ban.  

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Oasis Legal Services works closely with our partners to advocate for inclusive immigration reform. On March 27, 2023, Oasis joined the following organizations in opposing the asylum ban:

Immigration Equality
Lawyers for Good Government
Transgender Law Center
Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project
The Council for Global Equality
Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement
The Human Rights Campaign
Lambda Legal
Mijente
Santa Fe Dreamers Project
The TransLatin@ Coalition
Whitman-Walker Health
The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights