Washington, DC – The newly introduced Senate funding bill, if passed, will result in more cruelty and chaos at our nation’s border. The bill is poisoned with extreme anti-immigrant policies that would essentially end access to asylum, a legal pathway for people fleeing persecution. An international aid bill is no place for immigration reform. It is unconscionable to use people seeking asylum as political pawns to gain support for the protection of others. 

The #WelcomeWithDignity Campaign for asylum rights strongly condemns the Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024, introduced by Senators Lankford (R-OK), Sinema (I-AZ), and Murphy (D-CT). Among its most damaging provisions, the bill would make it harder to determine whether a person can apply for asylum, allow individuals and families seeking safety to be deported without a fair day in court, and under certain scenarios, deny anyone the opportunity to seek asylum. These proposals will undermine due process and violate international law. They will also fail to decrease the number of people arriving at the border. Deterrence tactics will not and have never worked. 

The latest legislation introduced in the Senate fails to provide practical solutions to the humanitarian needs at the U.S. border. We stand firm that addressing global displacement needs, including at the U.S. border, require thoughtful and humane solutions. These solutions include investing in resources to increase processing capacity at the border, increasing funding to communities and organizations that welcome arriving people, creating additional legal pathways for people to seek safety, and addressing the backlog in asylum and work permit applications.

The #WelcomeWithDignity Campaign strongly urges the Senate to reject this bill. We are grateful to the members of Congress who have expressed grave concerns about the inclusion of provisions that would harm the asylum system in a spending bill, including the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

“Over the years, the U.S. has ramped up its cruelty in an attempt to curtail the number of people arriving at its border. Adults and children have been put in cages, families have been separated, the border has been closed and, still, people continue to seek safety. People flee their home countries out of necessity. This bill will not stop people from coming; it will only lead to more cruelty and chaos at the border,” said Melina Roche, #WelcomeWithDignity Campaign Manager. “As a nation, we must remember and embrace our shared humanity and reject extreme anti-immigrant sentiments that punish people for seeking safety. We must save asylum.”