The Department of Homeland Security’s latest move to block asylum seekers from seeking safety here in the United States is deeply disturbing. People applying for asylum in New York City’s immigration courts are now being threatened with deportation to third countries such as Ecuador, Honduras, or Uganda, to seek protection there instead of the United States. Most people deported to these third countries have no ties there. Others face similar threats to their safety or new dangers there. To attempt to end their asylum claims so swiftly and deport them to countries that they have no ties to and could possibly face future harm is dehumanizing and cruel.

At Safe Horizon, we help immigrant survivors of violence and abuse obtain status and protection so they can live and work safely in the United States. People seek asylum because of real danger and violence in their home countries, and they have a right to seek safety here. Safety is a human right, and this tactic from DHS to eliminate options toward safety and healing for asylum seekers puts tens of thousands of people fleeing violence every year at risk for more harm.