As the United States enacts numerous policies that critics say restrict access to asylum, rights groups have expressed concern that such policies could have especially severe impacts on Indigenous migrants.
While narrowing asylum pathways has thrown life into flux for many of those seeking refuge in the US, Indigenous people say that the obstacles they face—from language barriers to discrimination and violence—have gone largely unrecognized in conversations about immigration.
Indigenous advocacy organizations say the demand for asylum will only become more urgent, as their communities face displacement from climate change and violence from groups who target opposition to industrial projects on ancestral land.
Earlier this year, the administration of US President Joe Biden announced a series of policies designed to discourage migrants and asylum seekers from crossing the country’s southern border irregularly.
In June, 143 immigration and human rights groups issued a letter to the Biden administration, urging more flexibility when processing Indigenous asylum claims.
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