A Shameful Record: Biden Administration’s Use of Trump Policies Endangers People Seeking Asylum

Since the Biden administration took office, Human Rights First has counted more than 8,705 reports of kidnappings and other violent attacks on migrants and asylum seekers who were blocked in and/or ejected to Mexico by the U.S. government. Their report, A Shameful Record: Biden Administration’s Use of Trump Policies Endangers People Seeking Asylum, details the administration’s continued implementation and expansion of what the authors call illegal and deadly Trump administration policies preventing asylum-seeking at U.S. ports of entry and on the southern border, exposing them to extensive and grave danger. The administration’s use of the Title 42 and Remain in Mexico (RMX) policies has "perpetuated their inherent cruelty, disorder, and the racist tropes in which they are rooted,” resulting in extensive human suffering. For this report, Human Rights First researchers interviewed migrants and asylum seekers, attorneys, shelter and other humanitarian workers, Mexican government officials, and legal monitors, both in-person and remotely. They tracked the implementation of the RMX policy in Ciudad Juárez in person in December of 2021 and interviewed 18 individuals returned due to RMX. They also utilized data from an electronic survey of asylum seekers in Mexico from September of 2021 to December of 2021 conducted by Al Otro Lado, among other sources. The report makes several recommendations, including ending Title 42 expulsions, resuming the ending of the RMX policy, and restoring access to asylum at U.S. ports of entry and on the southern border. (Erika Hernandez)