Customs and Border Protection under the Trump administration may be violating U.S. and international law by turning away certain asylum seekers, according to two Democrats on the House Oversight panel and the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.
Reps. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., on Tuesday wrote to acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke and DHS Inspector General John Roth saying they are launching an investigation of reports in recent months of Border Patrol agents “illegally turning away asylum seekers fleeing from torture and war atrocities to the United States as their last beacon of hope.”
They cited the Immigration and Nationality Act (amended in 1965) and the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees for requirements that CBP offer official interviews to all individuals “who are physically present or arrive in the United States with ‘an intention to apply for asylum.’” The international protocol protects those seeking asylum “on the grounds that they are being persecuted ‘for their race, religion, nationality,’ as well as for their political opinions and other factors.”