SILVER SPRING, Maryland — On Tuesday, the Biden administration announced a new executive order that will place unjust and severe restrictions on access to asylum and allow for rapid deportations when arrivals of migrants between ports of entry reach a certain threshold. The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), joins its Affiliates and partners in forcefully condemning this policy.

"This move to drastically reduce asylum access is dangerous, immoral, and illegal," said Anna Gallagher, executive director at CLINIC. "We are appalled that the United States is abandoning its commitment to humanitarian protection and national and international asylum law in issuing this executive order. The policy will strip countless migrants of their legal right to seek asylum with due process, and as a result many lives will be endangered and lost, and families separated. Respect for human dignity according to Catholic tradition requires robust protections for those fleeing harm, which this policy gravely undermines."

"We are grieved to consider the men, women, and children that these barriers to asylum will affect," said Karen Sullivan, CLINIC director of advocacy. "Vulnerable people will be returned to situations of extreme danger because of this order. Instead of continuing to erode asylum protections, we urge the administration to enhance and strengthen the asylum system and to create more safe and lawful pathways for migration."

"As an organization rooted in the principles of Catholic faith, we vehemently oppose these changes to the asylum system," continued Gallagher. "We will continue praying and advocating for policies that reflect our moral duty to welcome the stranger with compassion and dignity."