Biden’s Executive Order: New Asylum Ban, Old Tactics

On June 4, the Biden administration signed an executive order that will severely restrict people's legal right to seek asylum, no matter how strong their claims. Among the measures announced, the administration will effectively shut off asylum for the overwhelming majority of people arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border once the average number of encounters reaches 2,500 between ports of entry, a threshold which has already been met.

The order is the most restrictive border policy instituted by President Biden and echoes an effort in 2018 by former President Trump to cut off migration, which the ACLU and other immigrant rights advocates successfully challenged.

Under any president, lawful, harmful policies that eliminate crucial lifelines for people seeking safety will be taken to task. Joining us to discuss Biden's executive order and our lawsuit to fight against it are Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrant Rights Project and Keren Zwick, director of litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center in Chicago.

In this episode

Kendall Ciesemier

Former Host of At Liberty and Senior Executive Producer of Multimedia, American Civil Liberties Union

she/her/hers

Kendall Ciesemier (@kendallciese) was the host of At Liberty and the Senior Executive Producer of Multimedia at the ACLU. Previously, Kendall worked as a producer and reporter for The New York Times' Opinion section and Mic, a digital media company. Most notably at Mic, Kendall's interview with Alice Marie Johnson, a woman serving a life…

Kendall Ciesemier

Lee Gelernt

Deputy Director, ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project

Lee Gelernt is a lawyer at the ACLU’s national office in New York. He is widely recognized as one of the country’s leading public interest lawyers and has argued dozens of major civil rights cases during his career, including in the U.S. Supreme Court and virtually every federal court of appeals in the country. He…

Lee Gelernt

Keren Zwick

Director of Litigation, National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC)

Keren Zwick is the director of litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC). Keren focuses on litigation aimed at preserving access to the asylum system and systemic challenges to agency actions that delay or eliminate a noncitizens’ ability to access the legal benefits afforded by the Immigration and Nationality Act. Keren also represents clients…

Keren Zwick