Statement from Ann Marie Benitez, Senior Director of Government Relations, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, on President Biden’s Executive Order on Asylum Seekers

“We’re deeply disappointed by today’s Executive Order denying people the opportunity to apply for asylum at our borders. We’re experiencing a humanitarian crisis, with thousands of people coming to the United States looking for safety every day. The U.S. should welcome asylum seekers with dignity and respect and offer protections to those who have suffered for years at the hands of inhumane immigration policies in this country. “Our communities are still reeling from the draconian immigration policies of the Trump Administration, which President Biden and other elected officials called inhumane and are now ironically proposing themselves. This order violates the human rights of asylum seekers, further endangers our communities and does nothing to improve our broken immigration system. “The Latina Institute fights for reproductive freedom so all people can make their own decisions about their health and their families, including when or whether to have children and the freedom to care for their children in safety. Immigrant communities and asylum seekers deserve this protection and reproductive freedom too, and we will work tirelessly to raise their voices so that this can be so. We strongly urge the Biden Administration to fulfill its international obligations and promise to im/migrant communities and uphold the values of health, dignity, and justice.”