JAYAPAL. Mr. Chairman, my amendment will eliminate $535 million
in new funding for ICE officers and provide $30 million to the DHS
Office of Inspector General and $10 million to the Office for Civil
Rights and Civil Liberties. Simply put, my amendment makes it clear
that we must increase oversight and accountability over the Department
of Homeland Security. Reports of unlawful turnbacks of asylum seekers have only increased. The May 2017 Human Rights First report, ``Crossing the Line,'' flagged
125 incidents where asylum seekers were denied full access to the
process. Just last month, the American Immigration Council and others
filed a class action lawsuit challenging CBP's continued practice of
turning back asylum seekers requesting protection at ports of entry. The Trump administration's anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy appear
to have emboldened the CBP practice. CBP personnel also reportedly
stated: ``Donald Trump just signed new laws saying there is no asylum
for anyone . . . `'
We have also heard reports of CBP turning away asylum seeks through
threats, coercion, and intimidation. CBP reportedly threatened to take
away asylum seekers' children unless they left the port of entry and
let loose dogs unless they exited the port of entry. We have also heard CBP turning away asylum seekers through verbal and
physical abuse. CBP reportedly threw an asylum seeker's 6-year-old
daughter to the ground and knocked a transgender asylum seeker to the
floor and then stepped on her neck. These are not only unconscionable, Mr. Chairman, they may violate
U.S. and international law. They violate the Immigration and
Nationality Act, which guarantees the right of an individual present
within the United States or arriving at a U.S. port of entry to apply
for asylum. Also, they may violate the principle of non-refoulement, articulated
in the 1951 Refugee Convention and enshrined in U.S. law in the 1967
Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. This prohibits the return
of asylum seekers to a country where their lives or freedom would be
threatened on account of protected ground. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California
(Ms.
Keywords matched
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