#WelcomeWithDignity Campaign: Expanding Rushed Screenings in CBP Custody is Expediting Cruelty

Washington, DC – The #WelcomeWithDignity campaign, which is housed at the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC) issued a response to reports that the Biden administration is planning to expand its use of rushed Credible Fear Interviews of people seeking asylum while they are in U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody.

In their report, “Fast, Not Fair,” First Focus on Children and the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights outline how these processes are devastating to children. The report authors joined Dr. Marcia Griffin in a webinar, which was recorded for the media. Learn more about #WelcomeWithDignity’s compilation of our partners’ best recommendations for meeting the challenges at our border while upholding the dignity of people seeking asylum.

WRC is against the Biden administration’s reported plans to expand the use of rushed Credible Fear Interviews.

“The Women’s Refugee Commission is deeply concerned that the Biden administration is once again implementing harmful policies that the Trump administration already tried and failed,” said Kimiko Hirota, WRC’s policy advisor of the Migrant Rights and Justice program. “Even legal assistance – a critical resource that WRC generally welcomes – cannot mitigate the insurmountable obstacles individuals face when trying to make a case for their protection moments after being apprehended into CBP custody. In addition to its logistical infeasibility, conducting credible fear interviews while in CBP custody previously led positive rates of fear to plummet. We urge the administration to rebuild the US asylum system and uphold the rights of migrants by bolstering legal counsel and case management programs outside of government custody.”

Read the #WelcomeWithDignity campaign’s full statement.

Learn more about WRC’s work on asylum, legal, and human rights.

###