WASHINGTON, D.C. — Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced today that he is narrowing the definition of asylum to exclude people fleeing domestic as well as gang-related violence, potentially sending thousands of survivors back to countries where they may face abuse, extortion and even death.
The following is a quote from Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum:
“This narrow interpretation asylum law is a deliberate decision to turn our backs on survivors of domestic abuse and gang violence.
“The United States and this administration are able to afford relief to these individuals under the existing asylum law, but instead are choosing to send them back to countries where their governments and law enforcement cannot protect them.
“Much like the Justice Department’s policy of ripping children from their parents, sending women back to their abusers will not make our nation safer or stronger.”