CLINIC Stands with Welcome With Dignity Campaign Partners

May 28, 2021

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The Welcome With Dignity Campaign responded to reports that the Biden administration will begin fast-tracking the cases of certain families seeking asylum protection in the United States. Among the representatives for the campaign speaking on this issue was Luis Guerra, CLINIC’s strategic capacity officer and interim campaign manager of the Welcome With Dignity campaign:

"People seeking immigration protection in the United States are not looking for expeditious processing at the expense of a safe, humane and just process. Until we stop Title 42 expulsions that prevent people from making their asylum claims, we will not have a safe and just process. Until we roll back all of the previous administration’s anti-asylum precedents and make community-based support available, we will not have a safe and just process.

The goals of our asylum system should not be fast tracking cases, but ensuring access to counsel and due process and treating people with dignity.

The consequence of getting this wrong is a literal death sentence for people fleeing violence, persecution and other horrors."

Read the full Welcome With Dignity press release here.

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Proposed Ban on Asylum Violates U.S. Law and Catholic Social Teaching
Posted on February 22, 2023
SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The Biden administration has announced a proposed rule that would restrict asylum eligibility to those who have previously applied for asylum in a country through which they traveled to reach the U.S., with limited exceptions.

“In continuing with this rule, the Biden administration is betraying its own commitment to uphold asylum, as well as violating the principles of U.S. law and Catholic social teaching with respect to migration,” said Anna Gallagher, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., or CLINIC.

The proposed rule is a version of an “asylum ban” which was first issued by the Trump administration, and which was subsequently struck down by the courts as unlawful.

“The previous asylum transit ban was reprehensible and unacceptable, and this version is as well,” Gallagher continued. “The right to seek asylum through a full and fair process is a bedrock principle of international and domestic law. These new restrictions undermine that right and will have inhumane and horrific consequences for our immigrant brothers and sisters.”

“The countries that migrants most commonly pass through to reach the U.S. lack the full and fair asylum procedures necessary to provide protection to those facing persecution,” said Karen Sullivan, CLINIC's director of advocacy. “If this rule goes into effect, many asylum seekers will have nowhere to turn.”

The Biden administration has named several exceptions to its presumption of ineligibility for asylum and laid out a convoluted process through which migrants can still request asylum, including through using the highly criticized CBP One app to request an asylum appointment.

“The hoops that asylum seekers have to jump through to request U.S. asylum under this new rule are simply too high and too narrow,” continued Sullivan. “The new processes are most restrictive for asylum seekers already facing the highest barriers — those who arrive at the border with nothing, those who are Black, brown and Indigenous. Highly deserving asylum seekers will not be able to exercise their right to apply for asylum under these restrictions.”

“In this season of Lent, begun this week, Catholics repent for ways we have failed to love our neighbor,” said Anna Gallagher. “This new rule represents a collective failure to hear the cries of those begging for our protection.”

Asylum and Refugee Law
"Dangerous and Wrong:" CLINIC Responds to Parole Program and Title 42 Expansion for Venezuelans
Posted on October 13, 2022
SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced a “new migration enforcement process for Venezuelans.” Under a joint agreement with Mexico, Venezuelans who cross the border between ports of entry may now be returned to Mexico under Title 42. The federal government will accept 24,000 eligible Venezuelans under humanitarian parole as part of a sponsorship program similar to Uniting for Ukraine. Venezuelan asylum seekers who cross outside of ports of entry will not be eligible for parole.

“The expansion of Title 42 expulsions is dangerous and wrong,” said Anna Gallagher, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc, or CLINIC. “We must not hide behind outdated COVID-19 era policies. We need real and lasting solutions to ensure a robust, well-functioning and fair asylum system for all who need it — regardless of race, religion or any other factor.”

“This is another attempt to replace the lawful process of seeking asylum with a different, more restrictive framework that will not provide protection to many who are eligible for relief under U.S. and international law,” said Karen Sullivan, policy advocate at CLINIC.

CLINIC joins those calling for the Biden administration to ensure Venezuelans can access their legal right to seek asylum and for the reconsideration and redesignation of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuela.

“The opportunity for Venezuelans to receive parole through a process similar to Uniting for Ukraine would be welcome if the program operated alongside lawful asylum admissions at the border. But the imposition of asylum restrictions with this new program does not protect those Venezuelans seeking safety in the United States," Gallagher continued. “This decision will leave vulnerable Venezuelans stranded at the border.”

Asylum and Refugee Law
Catholic Leaders Welcome Supreme Court Ruling in Biden v. Texas
Posted on June 30, 2022
WASHINGTON — Today, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a 5-4 decision in Biden v. Texas, finding that the Secretary of Homeland Security’s termination of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) was lawful.

Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville, auxiliary bishop of Washington and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, Sr. Donna Markham, OP, PhD, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, and Anna Gallagher, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., issued the following statement:

“Today’s decision recognizes and preserves the executive branch’s ability to reverse untenable, illegal and immoral policies, regardless of who is in office. The implementation of MPP has obstructed due process and subjected people to the very dangers that forced them to seek refuge in the United States in the first place. With this ruling, we welcome the end of MPP.

Ours is both a nation of laws and a beacon of hope for many throughout the world. This should inspire us to work toward just and humane responses to forced migration, not embrace failed policies of the past. As Pope Francis has warned, we cannot limit ourselves to building ‘walls of fear’ and supporting ‘vetoes dictated by nationalist interests’ if we are to achieve meaningful progress in addressing these challenges.

While this ruling helps pave the way forward, it does not resolve the ongoing challenges at our country’s southwest border. We remain committed to supporting immigration policies that produce more sustainable solutions, respect the God-given dignity of migrants, and better reflect Christ’s call to welcome the stranger.”

On March 21, 2022, the USCCB, CLINIC and CCUSA filed an amicus curiae brief in in Biden v. Texas, supporting the Secretary’s decision to terminate the program.

Border Issues

Promoting the Dignity of Immigrants With Affordable Legal Expertise

As it has for more than 30 years, CLINIC will fight for the rights of immigrants. CLINIC trains legal representatives who provide high-quality and affordable immigration legal services. We develop and sustain a network of nonprofit programs that serve over 500,000 immigrants every year. We cultivate projects that support and defend vulnerable immigrant populations by:

Providing direct representation for asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border and educating them about their rights;
Reuniting formerly separated families;
Increasing legal representation for those in removal proceedings and in detention;
Providing public education on immigration law and policies; and
Advocating for fair and just immigration policies that acknowledge the inherent dignity and value of all people.

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About the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.

Embracing the Gospel value of welcoming the stranger, CLINIC promotes the dignity and protects the rights of immigrants in partnership with a dedicated network of Catholic and community legal immigration programs. We are based out of Silver Spring, Maryland (Washington, D.C. metropolitan area), with an office in Oakland, California, and additional staff working from locations throughout the country. Questions and inquiries can be sent to national@cliniclegal.org.

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