Mariko Hirose, IRAP Litigation Director, addresses journalists at an outdoor press conference. She is surrounded by several journalists with cameras, microphones and notepads. She has straight, shoulder length black hair and wears a white blouse and black blazer.

News & Resources

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Oct 1, 2024

“Cruel, Illegal, and Fundamentally Misguided”: IRAP Strongly Opposes Biden Asylum Rule

Today, the Biden administration published a final rule that will make it nearly impossible to lift draconian restrictions meant to deny people the opportunity to meaningfully seek safety at the U.S-Mexico border.

Press Release

Sep 6, 2024

IRAP Announces Initiative with U.S. and Latin American Partners to Strengthen and Expand Legal Pathways to Safety for Separated Children…

Today, IRAP announced the launch of the new Bay Area Family Reunification Initiative (BAFRI) alongside organizational partners in the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, and Colombia. This initiative seeks to address many of the longstanding challenges in the U.S. resettlement and asylum systems, and enable more people—including children—to safely access dignified legal pathways for refuge and family reunification in the Bay Area and throughout the United States.

Press Release

Jul 9, 2024

IRAP Objects to DHS and EOIR Interim Final Rule Obliterating Access to Asylum at the U.S. Southern Border 

On July 8, 2024, IRAP submitted a public comment opposing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) Interim Final Rule on Securing the Border, published on June 7, 2024.

Publication

Jun 13, 2024

IRAP Urges DHS to Rescind Proposed Rule Applying Mandatory Asylum Bars at Initial Border Fear Screenings, Compounding Rights Violations

On June 12, 2024, IRAP submitted a public comment strongly opposing the DHS proposed rule, Application of Certain Mandatory Bars in Fear Screenings, published on May 13, 2024.

Publication

Jun 4, 2024

IRAP on New Executive Actions: “Disgraceful Political Theater”

Today, the Biden administration announced executive actions to further eviscerate the ability to seek protection through lawful means at the U.S. border. The new border measures will close the border to all asylum seekers, with virtually no process or individualized review, based on deeply flawed metrics. They will go into effect immediately based on current border encounter numbers.

Press Release

May 23, 2024

IRAP Urges a “No” Vote on Deeply Harmful Senate Border Legislation

At a time when politicians like former president Trump are threatening mass deportations and other authoritarian crackdowns on immigration, it is imperative for policymakers to provide meaningful alternatives to this hateful rhetoric rather than adopt it as their own. Americans want legal pathways and sustainable, humane solutions to the border – not more cruelty. While the bill is likely to fail, today’s vote will become the perilous starting point for future legislative debates.

Press Release

May 10, 2024

“Dangerous Precedent”: IRAP Reacts to New Asylum Restrictions Proposed by Biden Administration

IRAP opposes this administration’s continued attempts to deny vulnerable people seeking protection their lawful chance to present their asylum claims. Asylum screening interviews have no right to counsel and limited ability to present evidence. In contrast, evaluating mandatory bars requires detailed evidence and complex analysis. We have seen too often how discretion and expediency in the name of security have served as a pretext for discrimination and xenophobia. The impact of this proposed rule would be to send refugees back to persecution and danger, rather than reforming and modernizing the sorely outdated U.S. immigration system. This sets a dangerous precedent.

Press Release

Feb 5, 2024

IRAP Urges Congress to Reject Anti-Asylum Spending Bill

The International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) calls on Congress to reject the deal, protect the right to seek asylum, and come together for bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform that modernizes the U.S. immigration system, creates new and expanded legal pathways, and upholds this country’s international legal obligations and desire for global moral leadership. The current bill does none of this. 

Press Release

Dec 13, 2023

Immigrant Rights Groups Demand Accountability for ‘Gross Violations of Human Rights’ at Open-Air Detention Sites at U.S.-Mexico Border

Seven immigrant rights organizations lodged an urgent federal complaint this week against the Department of Homeland Security Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) and its Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for violating their own custody standards for asylum seekers being held in several open-air detention sites along the U.S.-Mexico border in California.

Press Release

Dec 8, 2023

IRAP Rings Alarm on “Catastrophic” Push to Permanently Trade Asylum Rights for Short Term Funding Bill

In response to the latest news that the White House is willing to enact draconian Trump-like asylum restrictions to get Republican support for a one-time spending deal, the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) calls on President Biden to keep his word and protect rather than dismantle the right to seek asylum in the United States.

Press Release

Dec 1, 2023

IRAP Denounces Proposals to Trade Away Asylum Rights

Today, the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) condemned efforts by a fringe group of United States Senators to tie funding for Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel to a poison pill which would permanently gut asylum protections. The proposals would create near impossible barriers to apply for asylum and undermine humanitarian and other forms of parole.

Press Release
A photo of a children's mural project with handprints in different color paint across an outline of Mexico.

Aug 10, 2023

Broken Promises: Assessing the Humanitarian Impact of the Biden Administration’s Asylum Ban

Isabel López, IRAP's 2023 Policy and Communications Intern, highlights the impact of President Biden's cruel asylum ban on people seeking safety at the U.S.-Mexico border — from problematic cell phone apps that restrict asylum access to deadly weapons being deployed across border regions.

Blog Post