Statement for the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on “Oversight of Immigration Enforcement and Family Reunification Efforts”

The American Immigration Council submitted a written statement to Senate Committee on the Judiciary for a July 31, 2018, hearing on “Oversight of Immigration Enforcement and Family Reunifcation Efforts.” The statement shares our analysis and research regarding the nation’s asylum system and the obligations of the U.S. government to asylum seekers, as well as our deep concern around the administration’s family separation policies and increased prosecution of migrants. The statement draws attention to the extreme harm that children who are seperated from their parents endure, how parents have been coerced and misled into waiving their rights, and the increased rate of criminal prosecutions of immigrants. In sum, these changes will exacerbate back logs and push the overburdened immigration courts to their breaking point, which renders a fair day in court an impossibility.