US asylum policies increase risk of violence against vulnerable

A report revealed how common it is for migrants and asylum seekers to experience gender-based harm at the southern border of the United States due to its policies, according to a news release by Oxfam.

US asylum deterrence policies, such as border closures and expulsions, worsened conditions that cause violence to happen frequently on women, girls and other vulnerable people, said the report by Oxfam America and the Tahirih Justice Center.

"The risk of violence at the border for women, girls, and LGBTQI+ people is so high that they have reportedly come to expect it as a condition of seeking asylum in the US," said Irena Sullivan, an immigration policy counsel at the Tahirih Justice Center.

The report also showed that survivors who do manage to apply for asylum face an inequitable and re-traumatizing process on a systemic level.

"The US asylum system, rather than protecting the most vulnerable, often systematically harms those seeking protection, in gendered and racialized ways," said Sara Duvisac of Oxfam America.

The report urged the US to invest in centers where asylum seekers can access legal and humanitarian resources.

Other advices included eradicating racial bias across all US immigration agencies, explicitly recognizing gender as an independent ground of asylum, and supporting alternative pathways for processing refugees.