WASHINGTON, D.C. – As a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators continue negotiations on President Biden’s supplemental funding request, the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) joins a broad coalition of immigrant rights groups and progressive organizations in urging lawmakers to safeguard critical asylum protections. Currently, Senate Republicans are making critical funding for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan contingent upon their demand for extreme lasting changes to immigration policy in the supplemental funding bill, including “poison pill” provisions that would gut the U.S. asylum system and create chaos at the border.

It has been reported that the deal in discussion would implement an asylum ban, create near impossible barriers to apply for asylum, and undermine humanitarian and other forms of parole. These permanent changes to asylum would have devastating consequences at the border and across neighboring countries by jeopardizing security measures, exacerbating border resources, and putting vulnerable families and individuals at even greater risk of harm.

Said Nicole Melaku, NPNA executive director, “It is unconscionable for our elected officials to pit one group of vulnerable people against another, in a cruel exchange that plays politics with people’s lives over prioritizing their safety and well-being. This is not a zero sum game. As a nation, we can and we should support our global neighbors in need of protection – both those that face war and uncertainty overseas and those that flee to our doorsteps. We urge our Senators to work towards bipartisan solutions that center human lives over political points. We expect funding solutions that support humanitarian efforts where they are most needed and a functioning asylum system that extends welcome and care to those in need of safety.”

Immigration groups are urging Congress to prioritize bipartisan solutions that “make the existing process work better while keeping communities safe.” The solutions include investment in frontline efforts to process migrants, provision of resources to cities and communities welcoming them, and safeguarded access to asylum that ensures the humane treatment of those applying.

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The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) is a multi-ethnic, multiracial coalition of 66 of the nation’s largest immigrant and refugee rights organizations with reach across over 40 states. Together with our members, we advance immigrant and refugee equity and inclusion, build and expand immigration legal services and integration programming capacity, and drive campaigns that strengthen democracy through increased civic participation. See our website for more information at partnershipfornewamericans.org