July, 22 2021, 04:46pm EDT

Telling People Seeking Asylum 'Do Not Come' is Heartless and it Doesn't Work
Yesterday, in a CNN town hall President Biden was asked about his administration's immigration policy with regards to refugees and people seeking asylum and said: "they should not come." The President of the United States knows seeking asylum is a legal right under U.S. law, and a fundamental human right enshrined in international treaties and conventions-telling people seeking protection otherwise is inexcusable. Members of the #WelcomeWithDignity campaign responded:
WASHINGTON
Yesterday, in a CNN town hall President Biden was asked about his administration's immigration policy with regards to refugees and people seeking asylum and said: "they should not come." The President of the United States knows seeking asylum is a legal right under U.S. law, and a fundamental human right enshrined in international treaties and conventions-telling people seeking protection otherwise is inexcusable. Members of the #WelcomeWithDignity campaign responded:
"I was in Nogales, Sonora yesterday and met a 24-year-old single mother with her two young children," shared Laurie Benson, Founder of Madres e Hijos. "This mother fled Guerrero when her brother was murdered and the gang told her that she and her children were next. The Biden Administration's insistence that asylum seekers not come and the idea that they should seek asylum in their home countries undermines the very purpose and human right of asylum. People fleeing for their lives do not have the luxury of staying home and maneuvering the asylum process. This Administration must uphold the asylum system and move quickly to right the damage being done by their comments and actions."
"My family and I fled Honduras to seek asylum in the U.S. because the Honduran government would not protect us," said Suny Rodriguez, a member of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP), who crossed the border in 2015 and has since won immigration relief. "President Biden, you need to understand that when you are running for your life, there is no time to wait. Asylum seekers leave everything behind and are exposed to a dangerous journey because our lives depend on it. We deserve to have our plea for protection heard instead of being told not to come."
"Any person who wishes to seek safety in the U.S. has the right to do so," said Denise Bell, Researcher for Refugee & Migrant Rights at Amnesty International USA. "The message coming out from the White House, again and again, is not what Joe Biden promised and we plan to hold him accountable for upholding human rights as we have other Presidents. These statements are simply unacceptable and they send the wrong message not only to communities around the world seeking safety but also those eager to welcome them."
"It is shameful to witness how quickly the theme of the Biden administration has shifted from 'Build Back Better' to 'Do Not Come,'" said Noah Gottschalk, Oxfam America's Global Policy Lead. "After promising to restore humanity to U.S. immigration policy, it is shocking to hear this administration rely on some of the same tired and abhorrent tropes -- and policies -- as President Trump. Seeking asylum is a right and everyone deserves equal protection under the law. It's that simple. The Biden administration must immediately end its casual dehumanization of people who want nothing more than safety for themselves and their families."
"The Biden administration's insistence that asylum seekers 'do not come' - do not exercise their legal right to seek asylum - is yet another tried and failed, abusive Trump-era strategy among the many President Biden has adopted," said Ariana Sawyer, Human Rights Watch, US Border Researcher. "The Biden administration should stop employing rhetoric and policies that undermine the asylum system it swore to defend."
"LGBTQ asylum seekers continue to be abused violently while they wait. We need to remove hurdles so people can be safe, which is what asylum is about," said Craig Scott, Rainbow Beginnings Director.
"For an administration that is trying to put climate change at the heart of its legislative agenda, it is imperative that this administration comprehends the extensive impacts climate change is having on Central American countries, in particular Indigenous peoples and communities of those regions," said Dr. Jessica Hernandez, Climate Justice Policy Strategist at International Mayan League. "The climate change exodus is resulting in the forced displacement of poor and Indigenous peoples, yet the role climate change plays in this forced displacement is ignored by this administration's anti-immigration/refugee discourse."
"People have the right to seek asylum, period. After four years of the Trump administration fostering xenophobia and using every opportunity to dismantle our protection systems, it is deeply disappointing to hear President Biden tell asylum seekers not to come," said Nili Sarit Yossinger, Executive Director of Refugee Congress. "This rhetoric is nothing less than a continuation of the past four years and stands counter to the sentiments of communities all around the country that stand ready to welcome. This is not what was promised. This is not acceptable. And this administration must be held accountable for its words and its actions."
"Everyone deserves a safe place to call home, and denying asylum seekers safety and protection is wrong, "said Meredith Owen, Director of Policy and Advocacy for Church World Service. "If the administration were serious about restoring asylum protections, they would start by upholding our moral and legal obligations to those fleeing violence and persecution, instead of turning them back to the danger they fled. Seeking asylum in the United States is legal, and each person arriving at the U.S. border is a human being who deserves respect, dignity, and safety. We urgently call on the Biden administration to end its attacks on asylum seekers, terminate Title 42 expulsions, and swiftly rebuild the U.S. asylum system so that it is equitable and welcoming for all."
"Asylum is a crucial protection for people fleeing persecution in their home countries," said Eleanor Acer, senior director for refugee protection at Human Rights First. "President Biden should stand up for U.S. values, refugee laws, and treaties, instead of undermining critical human rights protections like the right to seek asylum. The President's statement telling families, children, and adults fleeing for their lives that 'they should not come' is deeply troubling."
"The president's remarks are the latest in a series of dangerous statements by his administration insisting that refugees 'not come' to the U.S. and threatening to return them to danger," said Kate Jastram, Policy and Advocacy Director at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS). "People seek asylum at our borders because doing so is their last chance at survival. Suggesting that they instead wait out a lengthy legal process in the very countries they are fleeing is callous in the extreme, and suggests a deep misunderstanding of our laws and treaty obligations. Asylum by definition exists to provide safe haven to those who cannot find protection in their home countries. Denying people their right to seek it violates our laws, flies in the face of the president's campaign promises, and cements the shameful legacy of the Trump administration. Enough."
"While we appreciated the Administration's efforts to increase opportunities for refugee processing in-country and in nearby countries, we are deeply concerned that the Administration fails to understand the urgent need of people to seek safety now, who cannot wait for this process to be set up, and who, if not welcomed here under our laws and in line with our American values, face persecution, torture, and death," said Sara Ramey, Immigration Attorney & Executive Director, Migrant Center for Human Rights.
"Telling asylum seekers they should not seek asylum in the United States is like telling someone whose house is on fire to just wait a bit longer," said Mark Hetfield, President and CEO of HIAS. "Asylum seekers are people who are fleeing violence and looking for safety. You can't dismiss them by saying 'don't come.' People are coming to the U.S. with nothing but fear for their lives, and you cannot simply tell them not to come. That is not leadership. President Biden has said that we need an immigration system that both reflects our values and upholds our laws. Let him use the right language and action and work to put that in place."
"Last night, President Biden reiterated his administration's unconscionable position that families and others seeking safety shouldn't come to the U.S. border," said Katharina Obser, Acting Director of the Migrant Rights and Justice Program at the Women's Refugee Commission. "People whose lives are at risk cannot simply wait in danger until the President invites them to exercise their legal right to seek safety. Access to asylum is a legal right. Seeking safety is a human right. On Independence Day this year, President Biden stated that our immigration system can both reflect our values and uphold our laws, and asylum is one of those laws we must vehemently defend. Those seeking safety should be welcomed with dignity, not subject to misguided deterrence. WRC is extremely disappointed that the Biden administration continues to parallel the Trump administration's inhumane rhetoric toward immigrants by demanding they not come seek safety."
"Seeking asylum in the United States is legal," said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, American Immigration Council, Policy Counsel. "As years of experience have shown, telling people not to come to the United States is cold comfort for those who have no other choice. Rather than trying to deter vulnerable people from fleeing persecution, the Biden administration should be focused on doing what it promised on the campaign trail; restoring access to asylum at the border."
"Seeking Asylum is a human right and guaranteed by U.S. law," said Ronnate Asirwatham, Director Government Relations, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice. "U.S. law guarantees that to seek asylum one must be physically present in the U.S. or arrive at the border. The president saying 'don't come...seek to qualify at a U.S. embassy' is deeply troubling and wrong."
"If only, Mr. President, I could say, 'Don't come,' to the gang attempting to recruit my son. If only I could say, 'Don't come,' to the sun and the rain, which have laid waste to my few crops. If only I could say, 'Don't come,' to my toddler, who cries out in pain from hunger because I have nothing left to feed him. If only I could come to your Embassy, Mr. President. But it's too far and I do not have the bus fare. My needs are too urgent, Mr. President. They cannot wait. So, here I come." Sarah Towle for Witness at the Border.
"It's a fundamental human right, enshrined in US law, to seek asylum, said Jane Bentrott, counsel with Justice Action Center. " The Biden-Harris administration serve neither our values nor our laws by seeking to discourage those who are fleeing rape, murder, and devastating hunger from finding safety."
"People seeking safety deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and that more often than not the current realities at the border fall short of this basic measure," said Charlene D'Cruz, Director of Lawyers for Good Government's Project Corazon. "Telling people 'don't come' is not only insensitive, but ignores the very real root causes of migration, and the U.S.'s involvement therein. People don't leave their homes and their families behind to make the treacherous journey north because they want to, they do it because they have no choice. Seeking asylum is a human right, one that is recognized by international and domestic law, and the Biden Administration must do everything in its power to uphold that."
"We are deeply disappointed by President Biden's message to asylum-seekers yesterday. Families and children escaping danger and persecution must be allowed to pursue their human right of asylum, at any time, and it is imperative that the American President vigorously defends that right," said Santiago Mueckay, Manager of Federal Government Relations at Save the Children. "The Biden administration must remain committed to treating asylum-seeking families with dignity and respect, and uphold its long-stated promise to reshape our asylum and immigration systems."
"Following recent comments by other high-level administration officials, it is deeply troubling to hear President Biden himself appear to abdicate the country's obligations to protect asylum seekers," said Melissa Crow, a senior supervising attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center's (SPLC) Immigrant Justice Project. "Seeking protection from violence and persecution is a fundamental human right, and the right to seek asylum is protected under both domestic and international law. To truly turn the page on the horrors of the past administration's policies and the long-flawed immigration system, this administration must embrace these fundamental rights and work to build a system that addresses them."
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Rick Scott Pushes Amendment to GOP Budget Bill That Could Kick Millions More Off Medicaid
Scott's proposal for more draconian cuts has renewed scrutiny regarding his past as a hospital executive, where he oversaw the "largest government fraud settlement ever," which included stealing from Medicaid.
Jun 30, 2025
Sen. Rick Scott has introduced an amendment to the Republican budget bill that would slash another $313 million from Medicaid and kick off millions more recipients.
The latest analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that 17 million people could lose their health insurance by 2034 as the result of the bill as it already exists.
According to a preliminary estimate by the Democrats on the Joint Congressional Economic Committee, that number could balloon up to anywhere from 20 to 29 million if Scott's (R-Fla.) amendment passes.
The amendment will be voted on as part of the Senate's vote-a-rama, which is expected to run deep into Monday night and possibly into Tuesday morning.
"If Sen. Rick Scott's amendment gets put forward, this would be a self-inflicted healthcare crisis," said Tahra Hoops, director of economic analysis at Chamber of Progress.
The existing GOP reconciliation package contains onerous new restrictions, including new work requirements and administrative hurdles, that will make it harder for poor recipients to claim Medicaid benefits.
Scott's amendment targets funding for the program by ending the federal government's 90% cost sharing for recipients who join Medicaid after 2030. Those who enroll after that date would have their medical care reimbursed by the federal government at a lower rate of 50%.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) introduced the increased rate in 2010 to incentivize states to expand Medicaid, allowing more people to be covered.
Scott has said his program would "grandfather" in those who had already been receiving the 90% reimbursement rate.
However, Medicaid is run through the states, which will have to spend more money to keep covering those who need the program after 2030.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimated that this provision "would shift an additional $93 billion in federal Medicaid funding to states from 2031 through 2034 on top of the cuts already in the Senate bill."
This will almost certainly result in states having to cut back, by introducing their stricter requirements or paperwork hurdles.
Additionally, nine states have "trigger laws" that are set to end the program immediately if the federal matching rate is reduced: Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah, and Virginia.
The Joint Congressional Economic Committee estimated Tuesday that around 2.5 million more people will lose their insurance as a result of those cuts.
If all the states with statutory Medicaid expansion ended it as a result of Scott's cuts, as many as 12.5 million could lose their insurance. Combined with the rest of the bill, that's potentially 29 million people losing health insurance coverage, the committee said.
A chart shows how many people are estimated to lose healthcare coverage with each possible version of the GOP bill.(Chart: Congressional Joint Economic Committee Democrats)
There are enough Republicans in the Senate to pass the bill with Scott's amendment. However, they can afford no more than three defections. According to Politico, Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) have signaled they will vote against the amendment.
Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.V.) also said he'd "have a hard time" voting yes on the bill if Scott's amendment passed. His state of West Virginia has the second-highest rate of people using federal medical assistance of any state in the country, behind only Mississippi.
Critics have called out Scott for lying to justify this line of cuts. In a recent Fox News appearance, Scott claimed that his new restrictions were necessary to stop Democrats who want to "give illegal aliens Medicaid benefits," even though they are not eligible for the program.
Scott's proposal has also brought renewed scrutiny to his past as a healthcare executive.
"Ironically enough, some of the claims against Scott's old hospital company revolved around exploiting Medicaid, and billing for services that patients didn't need," wrote Andrew Perez in Rolling Stone Monday.
In 2000, Scott's hospital company, HCA, was forced to pay $840 million in fines, penalties, and damages to resolve claims of unlawful billing practices in what was called the "largest government fraud settlement ever." Among the charges were that during Scott's tenure, the company overbilled Medicare and Medicaid by pretending patients were sicker than they actually were.
The company entered an additional settlement in 2003, paying out another $631 million to compensate for the money stolen from these and other government programs.
Scott himself was never criminally charged, but resigned in 1997 as the Department of Justice began to probe his company's activities. Despite the scandal, Scott not only became a U.S. senator, but is the wealthiest man in Congress, with a net worth of more than half a billion dollars.
The irony of this was not lost on Perez, who wrote: "A few decades later, Scott is now trying to extract a huge amount of money from state Medicaid funds to help finance Trump's latest round of tax cuts for the rich."
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"Will the European Commission propose a climate law that ends fossil fuel use and reflects the E.U.'s fair share of climate responsibility? Or will it choose political convenience?"
Jun 30, 2025
As yet another dangerous heatwave pushes temperatures well into the triple digits across much of Europe, climate defenders on Monday renewed calls for stronger action to combat the planetary emergency—including by ensuring that the impending European Climate Law ends fossil fuel use and eschews false solutions including international carbon offsetting.
Croatia, France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain are among the countries where near- or record-high temperatures have been recorded. Portugal and Spain both recorded their hottest-ever June days over the weekend. El Granado in southwestern Spain saw the mercury soar to nearly 115°C (46°C) on Saturday. The heatwave is expected to continue into the middle of the week, with authorities warning of elevated wildfire risk and potential severe health impacts.
"Extreme heat is no longer a rare event—it has become the new normal," United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Sunday on social media. "I'm experiencing it firsthand in Spain during the Financing for Development Conference. The planet is getting hotter and more dangerous—no country is immune. We need more ambitious #ClimateAction now."
On Monday, Real Zero Europe—"a campaign calling on the European Union to deliver real emissions reductions and real solutions to the climate crisis, instead of corporate greenwashed 'net zero' targets"—published a call for an E.U. Climate Law that does not contain provisions for international carbon offsetting, in which countries or corporations compensate for their greenhouse gas emissions by funding projects that reduce emissions in other nations.
🔴 OUT NOW📢 69 NGOs call on the EU to deliver a Climate Law that rejects international carbon offsetting & Carbon Dioxide Removals (#CDR), commits to a full fossil fuel phase-out, and reflects Europe’s fair share of climate responsibility!Read the statement👇www.realzeroeurope.org/resources/st...
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— Real Zero Europe (@realzeroeurope.bsky.social) June 30, 2025 at 2:40 AM
A draft proposal of the legislation published Monday by Politico revealed that the European Commission will allow E.U. member states to outsource climate efforts to Global South nations staring in 2036, despite opposition from the 27-nation bloc's independent scientific advisory board. The outsourcing will enable the E.U. to fund emissions-reducing projects in developing nations and apply those reductions to Europe's own 2040 target—which is a 90% net decrease in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels.
The proposal also embraces carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies like carbon capture and storage, whose scalability is unproven. Climate groups call them false solutions that prolong the fossil fuel era.
"E.U. climate policy stands at a crossroads: Will the European Commission propose a climate law that ends fossil fuel use and reflects the E.U.'s fair share of climate responsibility?" the Real Zero Europe letter says. "Or will it choose political convenience—abandoning that goal under pressure from corporate and populist interests, and turning to risky, unjust carbon offsetting and other false solutions?"
"Taking responsibility for the E.U.'s past and present role in causing the climate crisis means doubling down on a just and full fossil fuel phaseout not hiding behind false solutions as currently proposed," the letter continues. "The law as planned will send a dangerous signal far beyond E.U. borders. The climate and biodiversity crises are already harming people, especially vulnerable communities and populations largely in the Global South, who have least contributed to the climate crisis."
The 69 groups stress that international carbon offsetting "is a smokescreen for giving license to fossil fuel use beyond 2050" that diverts critical resources and public funds from real climate solutions and climate finance."
"Given the scale of climate catastrophe, for the E.U. to allow international offsets and technological CDR gives a lifeline to polluting industries such as the fossil fuel, agribusiness, plastics, and petrochemical industries," the letter states.
"We say no to an E.U. Climate Law that puts polluting industries over people and climate by embracing the use of international offsets and CDR approaches," the letter's signers said. "We call on the Commission to deliver an E.U. Climate Law and its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the U.N. climate negotiations that clearly reflects the bloc's responsibility for the climate crisis. That means a full fossil fuel phaseout and a just transition."
This heatwave is brutal. Temperatures above 40°C in June across France, Spain, Italy...We still hear from right-wing politicians that “it’s just summer.” It’s not. This is the climate crisis courtesy of the fossil fuels industry. It’s not normal.
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— European Greens (@europeangreens.eu) June 30, 2025 at 7:01 AM
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk also addressed the European heatwave on Monday, saying that "the climate crisis is a human rights crisis."
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Critics are sounding the alarm as congressional Republicans edge closer to passing a sweeping tax and spending bill desired by U.S. President Donald Trump that would inject tens of billions of dollars of funding into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency at the forefront of the president's immigration crackdown.
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On Monday, the Senate kicked off a vote-a-rama process where senators can demand an unlimited number of votes on amendments to the reconciliation package.
While negotiations on the legislation are still ongoing, the version of the reconciliation bill that was narrowly advanced in the Senate on Saturday includes $29.85 billion for ICE to "remain available through September 30, 2029" for personnel recruitment, technology for "enforcement and removal operations," and other priorities. It also includes $45 billion "for single adult alien detention capacity and family residential center capacity," also available through the same period.
The bill text also includes $46.5 billion for U.S. Customs and Border Protection to spend on border infrastructure, to remain available through September 30, 2029.
Journalist Nicolae Viorel Butler, who reports on immigration for the outlet Migrant Insider, reported on Sunday that all told the measure proposes in excess of $175 billion in "direct immigration-related funding for fiscal year 2025."
This, Butler wrote, reflects "a historic expansion of immigration enforcement operations under a Republican-controlled Congress and the Trump administration."
This money would be a big addition on top of what these agencies already receive. For example, a National Immigration Forum explainer focused on the House version of the reconciliation package noted that $45 billion for ICE detention capacity constitutes an 800% increase in detention funding compared to fiscal year 2024.
"This is the level of funding where all the possibilities for American politics that have been described as hyperbolic over the past decades—the comparisons to Nazi Germany and other nightmares of the 20th century—become logistically possible and politically likely," wrote the philosopher Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò on Bluesky, commenting on the infusion of funding.
In every state, immigration arrests carried out by ICE have sharply increased. Also the number of those arrested and detained by ICE who have no criminal record is up more than 1,400% compared to a year ago, according to The Washington Post.
Increased funding for ICE and immigration enforcement is not the only part of the bill drawing scrutiny.
In May, nonpartisan budget scorekeepers said that the U.S. House of Representatives-passed version of the legislation would, if passed, cut household resources for the bottom 10% of Americans while delivering gains to the wealthiest in the form of tax breaks. Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress, called the House version of the legislation the "the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in a single law in U.S. history."
"If the Republican budget passes, a lot of Americans will indeed suffer. But so too will millions of noncitizens who came to the U.S. seeking better lives for themselves and their families," wrotePost columnist Philip Bump of the increase in funding for ICE.
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