HIAS Opposes Latest Asylum Rule Changes

SILVER SPRING, Md. — HIAS is extremely disappointed in the Biden administration’s decision to double down on the border shutdown announced in June. That rule effectively sealed the U.S.-Mexico border to people seeking safety as long as border encounters were above a daily average of 1,500 per day. Today’s update keeps safety even farther out of reach by implementing changes in how that number is calculated and how the rule is implemented.

In June, HIAS spoke out strongly against the border shutdown, sending a delegation of Jewish leaders to D.C and joining many other coalition partners in strong opposition. This summer, HIAS also released a Policy Platform Pledge, calling on elected officials and candidates for office to pursue actual solutions to the immigration challenges of the day, rather than just respond to political pressure.  

“This should be a moment for real leadership,” said Naomi Steinberg, HIAS vice president of U.S. policy and advocacy. “In a moment when immigrants and asylum seekers are being slandered and maligned on the biggest political stages, the Biden administration should focus on solutions that balance two things at the same time: maintaining a secure border and maintaining the fundamental right to seek asylum. This asylum ban does neither. In 1924, the United States shut its borders to people seeking safety. One hundred years later, let’s not repeat the mistakes of our past.”