22 May 2020

Regional Focus: United States - Pt. 1 (Blocking Asylum)

News: CDC Order Blocking Entry to US is Extended Indefinitely

The text of the "Order Suspending Introduction of Certain Persons from Countries Where a Communicable Disease Exists" (CDC, 19 May 2020) states: "This amendment and extension goes into effect at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on May 21, 2020 and shall remain in effect until the CDC Director determines that the danger of further introduction of COVID-19 into the United States from covered aliens has ceased to be a serious danger to the public health, and the Order is no longer necessary to protect the public health."

Just a day earlier, a group of public health experts submitted a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services and CDC urging them to "to withdraw – not extend or expand indefinitely – this policy and instead direct U.S. officials to use rational, evidence-based public health measures to safeguard both the health of the public and the lives of adults, families, and unaccompanied children seeking asylum and other protection."

A group of NGOs also issued its own recommendations for "Public Health Measures to Safely Manage Asylum Seekers and Children at the Border."

See the following for reactions to the CDC's move and background on the administration's expedient use of the pandemic to deny entry to asylum-seekers:

Human Rights First Condemns Extension of CDC Order That Effectively Ends Asylum (Human Rights First, May 2020) [text]

"Inside the Campaign to Cut Immigration to the United States Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic," CNN, 8 May 2020 [text]

Pandemic as Pretext: Trump Administration Exploits COVID-19, Expels Asylum Seekers and Children to Escalating Danger (Human Rights First, May 2020) [text]
- See also related press release.

The Trump Administration, COVID-19, and the Continuing Assault on the Rights of Asylum Seekers and Refugees (Kaldor Centre, May 2020) [text]

"The Trump Administration is Using the Pandemic as an Excuse to Target Immigrants and Asylum Seekers," Vox, 15 May 2020 [text]

Trump Administration Uses Pandemic as Excuse to Expel Migrants - Summary Expulsion Power Extended Indefinitely (Human Rights Watch, May 2020) [text]

"Trump Administration Will Continue to Block Most Asylum Seekers Until End of Pandemic," Newsweek, 19 May 2020 [text]

The Trump Administration’s Indefensible Legal Defense of Its Asylum Ban - Taking a Wrecking Ball to International Law (Just Security Blog, May 2020) [text]

Related post:
Regional Focus: United States (4 May 2020)


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