New York, NY—Today, after months of negotiation, the Senate released the text of the “Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024,” making clear the administration’s willingness to advance extreme restrictions on the United States asylum process and immigration system in exchange for foreign aid. Many of the changes include expanding detention and deportation mechanisms, enforcing severe border policies, under the guise of emergency provisions, and virtually gutting the country’s asylum process.
If enacted, these proposals pose a threat to newly arrived asylum seekers and established immigrant communities, reversing the years of work immigrant advocates have fought for in support of these communities.
Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director, New York Immigration Coalition:
“This bill is a disgrace and a stain on America’s reputation as a defender of human rights. This proposal does nothing other than exacerbate the humanitarian and operational challenges at the border, while advancing the extremist, anti-immigrant agenda of Trump’s GOP. The restrictions will endanger the lives of asylum seekers and established immigrant communities, while continuing to create chaos and confusion at the border, and for those entrusted to uphold our laws. President Biden has turned his back on our communities, capitulating to the cynical political games of MAGA Republicans simply to move forward with foreign aid. Congress must begin a new chapter by ending the political gamesmanship and begin working on solutions supported by the vast majority of Americans who want to see our immigration system reformed while remaining grounded with values of fairness, humanity and equity.”