Washington, DC – The following is a statement from Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
“Reports that the Biden Administration and some Democrats are willing to trade permanent asylum restrictions in exchange for Ukraine funding is a troubling indication of their priorities and larger posture toward MAGA Republicans’ demands. Rewarding short-term brinkmanship and making lasting policy change via short-term funding vehicles is always the wrong approach, in particular given the real harms associated with gutting asylum as we know it.
We need a wholesale modernization of our immigration system. That process needs to take place via regular order and involve a full-scale set of policy reforms, not those solely focused on eviscerating asylum access. The larger set of reforms should include new legal channels to improve orderliness and strengthen our economy; processes for Dreamers and long-settled undocumented immigrants to obtain citizenship; and elements to ensure we can process asylum seekers efficiently and secure our borders intelligently.”
- Read more from America’s Voice on the Biden administration’s supplemental budget request: “President Proposes Strategic Investment in Border and Asylum to Help Restore Order”
