The policy, part of Biden’s 21-point plan for immigration reform, would rapidly deport families seeking asylum before they get the chance to argue their case in court.
COLORADO –– Following an announcement from the Biden administration that it would speed up migrant deportations, local immigration justice groups the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC) and Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN) denounce the accelerated family expulsion policy as antithetical to President Biden’s promise of a humane immigration system, and a violation of our country’s commitment to justice for all.
In the 21-point reform plan including this policy, President Biden pledged to create a more “fair, orderly and humane” immigration system. As RMIAN Executive Director Mekela Goehring says, however, “expedited removal can never be humane. Time and time again, we have witnessed asylum seekers sent to their deaths in the countries they gave everything up to flee. Expediting family deportations unilaterally strips away fundamental due process protections and only makes these tragedies more likely.”
Gladis Ibarra, Deputy Director of CIRC, concurs. “President Biden inherited an immigration system built on white supremacy and selective justice. Green-lighting expedited family deportation doesn’t right that wrong, it reinforces it. It deprives some of our country’s most vulnerable immigrants of their chance to seek safety here.”
Ibarra has a clear message for the Biden administration: “Do not let your legacy be to continue the previous administration’s behind-the-scenes violations of the rights of asylum seekers,” she urged. “You have a historic opportunity to close the door on the cruelty of past immigration enforcement tactics and pursue bold and just immigration reform. You have a historic opportunity to shape our immigration system into one that centers the human rights of those within it. Take it.”