Washington, D.C. — In response to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Justice Department’s announcement of a joint rule to limit the ability of asylum seekers to seek protection and safety in the U.S., Michelle Brané, director of the Migrant Rights and Justice program at the Women’s Refugee Commission, issued the following statement:

“This rule is a violation of international human rights law and an abdication of our responsibility to protect vulnerable persons. The rule and the Proclamation from President Trump will cut off access to asylum for a significant number of people who are seeking protection at the border.

“Seeking asylum is a legal right. Seeking safety is a human right. Families seeking safety are not a threat to our national security. Yet again, this administration is intentionally—and wrongly—framing the arrival of families at our border as a crisis, then refusing to use our well-established procedure for reviewing and vetting asylum claims. Their actions and inactions will render women, children, families, and others fleeing violence more vulnerable to those who would prey upon them. It will put desperate people at even greater risk of being returned to the dangers they were forced to escape from in the first place. And it will show the world, once again, that the United States has abdicated any moral leadership on these issues.”