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We have the opportunity to speak up and stop the Trump administration’s latest anti-asylum rule from ever taking effect. Submit your comment today! https://bit.ly/3fgvqh6 #SaveAsylumAsylum is under attack, but we can all fight back TODAY. Submit a public comment and share your support for asylum seekers. The Trump administration will be required to read and respond to EVERY comment received: https://bit.ly/3fgvqh6 #SaveAsylum

In early June, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) proposed a new rule that would effectively destroy the asylum process in the United States.This rule would make it almost impossible for survivors of gender-based violence including women, and LGBTQ+ people, especially those lacking legal representation – to obtain asylum in the United States.

This sets up the most marginalized of people who most often have taken great risks and endured added violence to reach our borders for safety, to be forcibly returned to countries where they will experience retribution, abuse, physical and psychological violence, torture, and even death for standing up for their rights and being their authentic selves.

This rule will be a death sentence for thousands of asylum seekers. It will also make it harder for a future president to reverse the profound damage the Trump administration has caused in its first term.

• Completely barring granting of asylum on the basis of gender
• Changing the very definition of “persecution”
• Redefining some of the core grounds for asylum claims, including membership in a “particular social group,” which could have a dire impact on women and LGBTQ individuals.
• Denying asylum to people who transited through other countries on their way to the United States
• Denying asylum seekers basic due process and their day in court by allowing immigration judges to decide cases just based on asylum seekers’ written applications

By way of illustrating the extensive prejudice imposed by the new proposed rules, here is but one example (of many) of LGBTQI asylees that I have personally been involved in, already granted asylum, who would have been denied had these rules been applicable at the time they were granted:

The 22 year old lesbian, with a 4th grade education and minimal English (no Spanish) who was being consistently raped by a family designated acquaintance, in her home country, to “cure” her of being a lesbian. She was contemplating suicide as a way out, when a well-wisher assisted her with money and she was able to pay for passage to a South American country. She endured an onerous journey through the continents up to the U.S. Southern border, which took almost a year to accomplish. She suffered greatly during this perilous journey. Her tenacity and determination unwavering, because she saw America as he only hope for a life worth living in her circumstances.  None of the countries, along the way could have provided her with what she needed to reboot her life. She was determined to reach the only place where she believed she would be safe and protected with the highest chance of receiving an education,  future happiness and equality. This young lesbian was granted Asylum in the United States after an adjudication process:  Under the new rules this asylee would have been deported back to her home country. Upon her arrival the home country authorities would immediately know that she had been deported. She would be subjected to interrogation, and likely torture. If she survived that, she would be imprisoned or returned to her family village where the torture would resume!

Trump’s new asylum rule could mean a death sentence for thousands of refugees. We have just a few days left to make our voices heard and stop it! Submit a public comment today: https://bit.ly/3fgvqh6 #SaveAsylum

We ALL need to speak out against Trump’s dangerous new asylum rule before the comment deadline at midnight Wednesday 7/15. Make your voice heard! https://bit.ly/3fgvqh6 #SaveAsylum

Trump’s new asylum rule could mean a death sentence for thousands. The more public comments we submit, the longer it will take the administration to finalize the rule and start using it to deport refugees. Comment TODAY: https://bit.ly/3fgvqh6 #SaveAsylum

We have the opportunity to speak up and stop the Trump administration’s latest anti-asylum rule from ever taking effect. Submit your comment today! https://bit.ly/3fgvqh6 #SaveAsylumAsylum is under attack, but we can all fight back TODAY. Submit a public comment and share your support for asylum seekers. The Trump administration will be required to read and respond to EVERY comment received: https://bit.ly/3fgvqh6 #SaveAsylum

HERE IS A TEMPLATE FOR YOU TO SEND YOUR OWN COMMENT:

I am writing to share my strong opposition to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) Joint Notice of Proposed  Rulemaking: Procedures for Asylum and Withholding of Removal; Credible Fear and Reasonable Fear Review; RIN 1615-AC42 / 1125-AA94 / EOIR Docket No. 18-0002/ A.G. Order No. 4714-2020.

I object to these proposed changes because they would effectively make it impossible for anyone to find safety in the United States through the U.S. asylum system. They would deny most asylum seekers their day in court, and they would completely bar the granting of asylum on the basis of gender. They would also change the very definition of what “persecution” means. In addition, they would make getting asylum because of one’s political opinion or membership in a particular social group exponentially more difficult, and quite absurdly, deny asylum to people who have two or more layovers while they travel to the United States.

If these proposed changes were to be implemented, they would roll back decades of established legal precedent, resulting in the disappearance of refugee protections that have long been accepted as a key part of who we are as a country. .

[Insert your own opinions about why you support a strong U.S. asylum system and why you oppose the proposed changes. For example, why does abolishing the U.S. asylum system violate your Jewish/American/Religious values? Does your family have a refugee story? Are you friends with someone who is an asylum seeker or was granted asylum? Do you work/volunteer with refugees? Have you seen firsthand how refugees contribute to your community?]

It is for these reasons that I urge you to immediately rescind the Proposed Rule and instead dedicate your efforts to advancing policies that respect individuals’ legal right to seek asylum.

HERE IS THE LINK: https://bit.ly/3fgvqh6

Share with your friends on your social media #SaveAsylum

HERE IS POIGNANT ACCOUNT OF IMPACT OF THIS – A MUST READ from MS Magazine:

https://msmagazine.com/2020/07/13/an-american-mother-on-asylum-trumps-new-rules-would-have-rewritten-my-story/

Links and resources to share:

• Regulations.gov comment submission portal [bit.ly link: bit.ly/Defend_Asylum]
• 4-minute video explainer from the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
• Powerful op-ed from asylee Nene Bah
• Action alert and resources from the Interfaith Immigration Coalition
• Sample comments from:
  • Alliance for Immigrant Survivors (template for advocates working with survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault)
  • Tahirih Justice Center (focuses on asylum for survivors of gender-based violence)
  • American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)
  • HIAS
  • Human Rights First