Responding to Attorney General Sessions’ remarks today on the asylum system, Naureen Shah, senior director of campaigns at Amnesty International USA, released the following statement:
“The Trump administration’s cruel agenda to close U.S. borders comes at great cost to human lives. People fleeing horrific violence should be met with compassion and the opportunity to rebuild their lives free from fear. Instead, Attorney General Sessions wants to put measures in place that may likely block some of the world’s most vulnerable people from gaining safety. We cannot allow fear-mongering and hateful rhetoric to become policy. The U.S. has legal obligations to provide access to asylum and to protect people fleeing persecution.”