Rep. Ilhan Omar Statement on the Biden Administration's New Asylum Restrictions

WASHINGTON – Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) released the following statement on President Biden's announcement of new asylum restrictions.

"The right to seek asylum is a fundamental human right. So core are the rights of refugees and asylum seekers that the United States of America led two separate UN conventions explicitly outlining the legal obligations of States to protect them. The United States passed its own law—the Refugee Act of 1980—to ensure that individuals who seek asylum from within the U.S. or at its border are not sent back to places where they face persecution.

"The Biden Administration’s proposed rule would prohibit any migrants from applying for asylum in the United States unless they have already been turned away from asylum in another country. It is, in word and deed, almost identical to Donald Trump’s 'transit ban.'

"Just as I vocally criticized this policy when Donald Trump proposed it, I must do the same when it is proposed by a Democratic president. The policy flies in the face of international law, U.S. law and basic morality. It will put the lives of countless asylum-seekers at risk. By punishing the victims of decades of failed policy, it will do absolutely nothing to address the root causes of U.S. immigration.

“The victims of this policy will be the innocent—people who committed no crime other than daring to seek a better life in the United States of America. I know. Because I was one of them."

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