VAAP on NBC5 in Depth

NBC5’s Brian Colleran reports:

“RICHFORD, Vt. — In the first eight months of this fiscal year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection along the Swanton Sector have had nearly 10,000 encounters with people crossing the border illegally. This is a record number for one year, and new monthly records are set each month. NBC 5's Brian Colleran sat down with CBP and went along on a ride-along near the border to get a greater idea of what's going on and where these people are entering the U.S. We also sit down with a new nonprofit organization, Vermont Asylum Assistance Project, that is helping asylum seekers navigate the U.S. legal system and get on the right path toward citizenship.”

https://www.mynbc5.com/article/nbc5-in-depth-crossing-the-border/61520459

VAAP OPINION/EDITORIAL:

We were grateful for the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Colleran this week and introduce our work to his considerable viewership. However, we wish to clarify that there is no wrong way to seek asylum. Congress made it clear in INA 208 that a noncitizen need only be present in the U.S. and express their fear of returning to their country of origin to be considered. Institutionalized xenophobia and scapegoating has politicized asylum seeking to the point of a false dichotomy between “illegal” border crossings and “the right path” toward citizenship. For decades, Congress has made it emphatically clear there is no right or wrong way to seek asylum, and VAAP renews its condemnation of the Biden Administration’s attempt to thwart asylum seekers’ unqualified right to seek asylum at our borders. As VAAP explained to Mr. Colleran, our experience is that a considerable number of recent noncitizen apprehensions reported by CBP and ICE are actually of longtime community members who comprise the backbone of Vermont agriculture, an industry contributing over $30 billion to our state’s GDP. VAAP warmly welcomes media to stay in touch as they report on immigration policy and practice changes nationally and in our border state.