On Dec. 10, the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice announced they will soon publish a new rule that Lambda Legal said “eviscerates the United States asylum system,” according to a joint press release with Immigration Equality.
The groups say the ban will make it practically impossible for LGBTQ people, those living with HIV who fled persecution in their countries of origin, and women who make gender-based claims and victims of non-state violence to secure asylum in the United States.
Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings and Immigration Equality Executive Director Aaron C. Morris said, “The depth of the Trump administration’s cruelty toward some of the most vulnerable people in the world truly knows no bounds. In many countries LGBTQ people and those living with HIV face unimaginable abuse and violence at every turn. The United States has long held itself out as a beacon of hope for these individuals, many of whom risk their lives to seek asylum here.
“Assuming that this rule resembles the proposed rule published in June of this year, we plan to sue. This rule flies in the face of our country’s core value of being a land for those who yearn to breathe free. And if this government will not uphold our country’s longstanding value of compassion for the oppressed, we will.”
The federal rule is at http://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2020-26875.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pi+subscription+mailing+list&utm_source=federalregister.gov.