Supreme Court Okays Asylum Turnbacks, Denying Due Process; AILA Offers Workable Alternatives

WASHINGTON, DC – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) condemns the Supreme Court's decision ruling that the federal government can turn away asylum seekers at ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border without processing their asylum claims, and that such a policy does not violate federal immigration law.

AILA President Jeff Joseph stated:

“Yesterday’s decision is a serious setback to U.S. asylum law and America's longstanding commitment to protect people fleeing persecution. When the government turns away vulnerable people trying to present at ports of entry before their claims can even be heard, it denies them the right to seek asylum that Congress guaranteed under U.S. immigration law and violates our obligations under international law. Blocking asylum access to people who present themselves at ports of entry abandons those principles and risks sending people back to countries where they may face violence, persecution, or even death.

“The Court’s decision should prompt Congress to act immediately and reform the asylum system to ensure fair access to humanitarian protection while at the same time maintain an orderly and safe border. History has shown that policies forcing asylum seekers to wait in dangerous border communities expose families to kidnapping, extortion, trafficking, and other serious harm. But the existing asylum system was never designed to handle the volume of arrivals seen in recent years, a failure that the current Administration has exploited to justify full closure of the border.

“America can reform the asylum system to be fair and more efficient by streamlining asylum processing, hiring additional officers to screen cases more rapidly, limiting the review by immigration courts to select cases, and taking other steps that AILA has proposed in its recently published framework for reform: A Better Way on Immigration: Principles for America’s Future.”