Proposed Asylum Ban is Rooted in Fear, Not Reality

Mónica Ramírez

As an organization that is in community with migrant women every day, Justice for Migrant Women has grave concerns with the proposal by the Biden Administration to ban entire populations from entering the United States via the U.S.-Mexico border as they try to seek safety. As the great granddaughter of immigrants who crossed that very border decades ago, I take this very personally.

I am not only the beneficiary of opportunities my family gained by emigrating to the U.S., but my family and families like mine have contributed so much to the social, cultural, political and economic fabric of this nation. To deny other people these opportunities and to deprive our nation of the contributions, talent, skill, and commitment to fulfilling the promise of America is abhorrent, not to mention short sighted.

This proposed asylum ban is based not in the reality of human nature, but one that is rooted in fear. When the U.S. government acts out of fear instead of facts, the results are almost certain to be misaligned with where we are as a country and how we are positioned across the globe. The reality is that human beings migrate. We always have, and we always will. Fear is demonstrated in language which fails to treat one another as human beings, referring to women, men, children and people as “waves” or “illegals”. Such language not only harms people who are coming into the United States, but those who are already here. Actions rooted in fear will naturally be mirrored by people across the country with their own fear responses.

For the immigrant women who we serve, primarily migrant and rural women who are survivors of gender-based violence, this enhances a feeling that they or their families do not belong and are unwelcome. It will prevent people from seeking the support they need, like reporting sexual harassment or seeking mental healthcare. It will push immigrant women in rural America and immigrant survivors, who are already often unseen, even further to the edges of our communities. That is a mutual loss: immigrant women are a part of our families, friend groups, churches, caregiving circles and often give us what we need to sustain our bodies.

This proposal will have a disparate impact on the most vulnerable migrant women.

We call on the Biden Administration to uphold their commitment to equity and gender equality to fulfill its commitment to being a government for all people. They must withdraw this proposed regulation and ensure the federal government is investing resources at the border that set the United States up to care for and welcome asylum seekers in a trauma informed manner. The federal government must invest in organizations who serve immigrants so that we can begin to repair the harmful effect that even speaking of this proposal will have for immigrants and their families. This proposal will have a disparate impact on the most vulnerable migrant women. It is not acceptable or moral and is a failure to migrant women at home and abroad.

Mónica Ramírez, President and Founder of Justice for Migrant Women.