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11 J. Glob. Rts. & Org. 104 (2020-2021)
Immigration Metering: Barriers to Asylum along the Southern Border

handle is hein.journals/jgro11 and id is 109 raw text is: IMMIGRATION METERING: BARRIERS TO ASYLUM ALONG THE SOUTHERN BORDER Hannah K. Gabbard* ABSTRACT Since 2016, the Trump administration has actively sought to limit meaningful access to the asylum process in the United States. One current policy implemented along the border of Mexico and the United States is metering. Under the metering policy, United States immigration officers stationed in the pedestrian lane of an international bridge along the international boundary direct arriving asylum seekers back to Mexico where they must wait to assert their claim to asylum protections. Due to the metering policy, asylum seekers waiting in Mexico remain in unsafe and unsanitary conditions. Beyond the physical implications of the metering policy on asylum seekers, this policy undermines the historical purpose of asylum protections and the asylum system at large by effectively eliminating access to the asylum process. The metering policy has widespread effects on individuals, communities, and the asylum system at large but its legality has yet to be judicially determined. This note argues that metering abrogates rule of law because the policy violates both United States domestic law and international human rights principles. This note focuses on the statutory interpretation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA ) as the statute neither expressly permits nor prohibits the metering policy but determining the policy's legality under domestic law turns on this statute. The INA requires inspection of arriving aliens by immigration officers for asylum and the courts should construe the statute to allow individuals in the process of arriving at the international border between the United States and Mexico to assert an asylum claim. This note discusses the United States' international obligations of non-refoulement which prevents the return of asylum seekers to a territory where they would face danger or persecution. This note then presents counterarguments to interpretations of domestic and international law principles. Together, the INA and non- refoulement form the basis by which the metering policy violates rule of law. This note concludes with a discussion of the lasting impacts and consequences of non- resolution of this policy. While the continued practice of the policy certainly poses endless dangers to asylum seekers and the asylum system at large, resolution of the metering policy will not assuredly provide relief to affected individuals and systems. * J.D. Candidate (2021) at Syracuse University College of Law; M.A. in International Relations Candidate (2021) at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs; B.A. in Political Science and Global & International Studies (2018) from Loyola University Chicago. Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Global Rights and Organizations, Vol. 11. I would like to thank Professor Andrew Kim for his thoughtful recommendations and guidance, and the staff of the Journal of Global Rights and Organizations for their support and unwavering dedication to human rights. Lastly, I would like to thank my family and friends for their constant love and encouragement, without which none of this would have been possible.

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