Washington, DC –Today, the Biden Administration issued a proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register that could effectively ban most protection seekers from asylum in the United States if they did not apply for protection in a third country through which they traveled or meet other conditions. Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)’s President Wendy Young issued the following statement:
“The Biden Administration’s decision to revive the policies of his predecessor continues to harm children and families – even when unaccompanied children are exempted. The Administration’s newly announced transit ban echoes the previous Administration’s failed policies and decimates the protection system for asylum seekers. Fleeing for their lives, asylum seekers are often in vulnerable situations in the countries through which they travel or do not have the resources to access the protection systems within those countries. Exempting children from the toxic transit ban does not provide them with the protection to which they have a right; many will remain extremely vulnerable to violence, abuse, trafficking, and exploitation, among many other harms, with little to no protection.”
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Media Contact: Megan McKenna, mmckenna@supportkind.org, 202-631-9990