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Women and Children Seeking Protection Are Not "Loopholes"

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Certain immigration proposals have sought to gut protections portrayed as legal “loopholes” that are crucial to saving the lives of children, families, and others seeking protection. But no deal on immigration should trade the lives of one group of vulnerable individuals for another. Children and adults escaping violence are not benefiting from a loophole, nor do they pose a threat to border security. Instead, they fled to find safety and fairness in an immigration process they have a legal right to access. The United States has a long history of protecting the persecuted and a clear obligation under domestic and international laws not to return women, children, and others to places where they fear persecution or to return children into the hands of traffickers.

Immigration legislation should not attack those fleeing violence who already face hurdles to protection.