House GOP To Vote On Immigration Bill That Could End Asylum

House Republicans plan to vote soon on a bill that could end access to asylum in the United States for victims of persecution, according to refugee and human rights organizations. If the bill were to pass the House of Representatives, the prospects of becoming law would be uncertain given the likely opposition in the Senate.

The controversial bill, authored by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), was among those Kevin McCarthy promised an early floor vote in exchange for member votes to become Speaker of the House. The recently passed House rules package listed the “Border Safety and Security Act of 2023” as one of seven bills that would receive a vote.

In practice, the bill would likely mandate that the executive branch block the entry of anyone without a visa who seeks asylum, no matter how legitimate an individual’s asylum claim. If a person already had a visa, they would not likely apply for asylum at a port of entry.

“This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to suspend the entry of any non-U.S. nationals (aliens under federal law) without valid entry documents during any period when DHS cannot detain such an individual or return the individual to a foreign country contiguous to the United States,” according to the summary of H.R. 29 on Congress.gov.

“(Under current law, non-U.S. nationals who arrive at the border without entry documents are generally subject to expedited removal,” the summary continues. “However, if such an individual is found to have a credible fear of persecution, they are typically subject to detention while their asylum claim is being considered.) The bill also authorizes DHS to suspend the entry of non-U.S. nationals without entry documents at the border if DHS determines that such a suspension is necessary to achieve operational control over such a border.”

The bill empowers state attorneys general to “bring an action” against the secretary of Homeland Security in a U.S. district court on behalf of a state’s residents if the secretary doesn’t block asylum seekers.

More than 250 local, state and national refugee, human rights and immigration organizations wrote a letter to House members opposing the bill. The organizations include U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Lutheran Immigrant and Refugee Service, American Immigration Lawyers Association, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch and others.

“The Border Safety and Security Act would require a wholly unserious and harmful metric to be met before any asylum claim could be entertained, inevitably ending access to asylum at all U.S. borders, even for children,” according to the organizations’ letter. “Specifically, the bill would seal off all borders and ports of entry to asylum seekers if Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents cannot detain or return to Mexico all arriving asylum seekers and migrants. This condition is operationally impossible and a recipe for a human rights catastrophe. Moreover, the bill would give DHS broad discretion to ban all asylum access even if this inhumane and impossible condition were somehow achieved.”

The purpose of the bill is to prevent individuals from applying for or receiving asylum. “The first border bill the House GOP are set to vote on would impose permanent mandatory expulsions at every border/airport for everyone without a visa or valid entry document—even a child crossing alone or a baby found abandoned, no exceptions. It would be a total end to asylum,” according to Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council. “Not only does the bill require the end to asylum until literally every single person crossing can be detained (which is currently physically impossible), it also gives DHS a permanent discretionary authority to end asylum at every border.”

Shutting off a legal means of seeking human rights protection is against U.S. international obligations, and would likely encourage people to undertake more dangerous means of seeking freedom and opportunity, note analysts. “At least 853 migrants died trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border unlawfully in the past 12 months, making fiscal year 2022 the deadliest year for migrants recorded by the U.S. government,” reported CBS News. This increase in deaths occurred at the same time Title 42 was used to expel many individuals before they could apply for asylum.

U.S. law defines a refugee as “Any person who is outside any country of such person’s nationality . . . and who is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.”

Members of Congress will vote on whether the U.S. government should be ordered to deny protection to victims of persecution. The Western Hemisphere is experiencing a historic refugee crisis, and the U.S. Congress cannot prevent other governments from committing human rights abuses. Experts note governments will continue to persecute people, including governments in Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and elsewhere.