Washington, DC – The Trump administration’s latest attack on asylum-seekers takes effect today: a one year ban on work permits. Elissa Diaz, Policy Associate at Church World Service and Co-Chair of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition, said:
Asylum seekers have already fled so much. Abused and persecuted in their native countries, often for years, they come to the United States because they thought we were a beacon of hope and lifeline for protection. Instead, we lock them up, including their children.
If they do make it to the point where they are released and can continue to pursue their claims from outside of immigration jail, we then deny them the ability to work and feed themselves and their families. It’s cruelty in the extreme. The depths to which this administration would sink in order to torture and reject people who have already been through so much are truly limitless.
Now is a critical time for Congress to support and pass the Refugee Protection Act (S.2936/H.R.5210), which would restore and strengthen asylum and refugee protections in the United States. The faith community urges the administration and Congress to live out the best of American values of compassion and welcome.
In CBS News, Camilo Montoya-Galvez explains how this rule will affect an Ohio woman with a young child:
Citing her own case, W.L. pushed back on the notion that most migrants seek asylum solely to secure better economic opportunities. According to her asylum application, W.L. was repeatedly raped in Guatemala by her former boss, a powerful and wealthy lawyer. She said he first raped her when she was 19 and subsequently continued to abuse her physically and sexually, impregnating her twice and forcing her to abort one of two pregnancies.
After her son was born, W.L. said the father, her alleged abuser, refused to support him financially. She filed a case in family court. That’s when the threats by her alleged abuser’s family started, according to the asylum application. W.L. said she filed a police report, but the threats continued, prompting her to trek north to the U.S. southern border with her son, who is now 8.
“We don’t come to this country just for money. It’s very difficult to leave our homes, our families, and to face that danger along the journey,” W.L. said.
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is made up of 55 national, faith-based organizations brought together across many theological traditions with a common call to seek just policies that lift up the God-given dignity of every individual. In partnership, we work to protect the rights, dignity, and safety of all refugees and migrants.
Follow us on Twitter @interfaithimm
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