(Joe Biden. Photo by Gage Skidmore, from Wikimedia Commons)
As Pride month draws to a close, the #WelcomeWithDignity campaign for asylum rights highlights the way President Joe Biden’s recent asylum ban and the country’s current asylum system are impacting LGBTQ+ people.
On June 22, the #WelcomeWithDignity campaign held a webinar to discuss the state of asylum access for LGBTQ+ people today. The panel featured multiple experts in the field, including Dr. Emil’ Keme (K’iche’), Cultural Advisor for the International Mayan League; Aaron Morris, Executive Director of the Immigration Equality; and Zack Mohamed, Somali refugee and Deportation Defense Coordinator of the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project.
Morris, a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the LGBT Bar Association, was named by the LGBT Bar Association as one of the Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40 in 2014.
The purpose of this webinar was to discuss the Aslym Ban, recently announced by the Biden Administration, regarding those seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. The ban comes after the expiration of Title 42, a Trump-era policy that allowed U.S. authorities to reject undocumented migrants from the border and suspend their legal right to ask for asylum in the United States.
Amidst multiple foreign countries’ decision to criminalize homosexuality, including Uganda, which prescribes the death penalty for committing “aggravated homosexuality,” this asylum ban impacts the LGBTQ+ community heavily, as community members in unsafe countries will face extreme hurdles to seek asylum in the United States.
Biden’s new policy stipulates that those who have not followed certain legal pathways are not to be admitted into the country.
According to the National Immigration Project, the “legal pathways” include entering the United States through lawful channels, such as coming into the country with a tourist visa. Another option is for immigrants to schedule an appointment with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) using a smartphone application called CBP One.
During the webinar, Morris stated that this application has many shortcomings, however, as the app is only accessible to those with smartphones, it is not available in every language and appointments are extremely limited, forcing refugees to wait in unsafe places for an appointment to become available.
Morris also explained that the ban itself is illegal, as immigrants have a legal right to apply for asylum if they are fleeing persecution or torture under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
“It abrogates that right by adding additional hurdles that aren’t in the statute,” Morris said. “And it will ultimately cost the lives of some queer people and subject others to persecution and torture.”
Other speakers on the webinar went on to explain how these conditions are oppressive and dangerous to all marginalized communities seeking refuge in the United States, and that it will only prolong migrant’s already desperate situations.
“You can’t schedule the need for asylum,” Campaign Communications Strategist Paola Ariza said. “When you have to flee for your life, you just go.”
The #WelcomeWithDignity Campaign for asylum rights strives to transform the way the United States receives and protects people who are forced to flee their homes, working to ensure that they are treated humanely and fairly.
More information and resources regarding the campaign and asylum rights can be found here.
