Countries: United States of America, Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) Source: Amnesty International In response to measures being adopted by states across the Americas that violate the human rights of people seeking safety, Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International, said the following:“On World Refugee Day, we are witnessing a devasting erosion of the rights of people seeking safety and asylum protections across the Americas. The Trump administration has issued a barrage of executive actions which have halted the US Refugee Admissions Program and make it nearly impossible to seek asylum in the United States, placing countless lives at risk. These policies have already resulted in thousands of people being forcibly returned to places where their lives or safety are at risk. Currently, there is no longer any way for people to seek asylum at the US-Mexico border. This is not only unlawful but inhumane and cruel.The Trump administration has also dismantled other critical protections for people seeking safety, including stripping Temporary Protected Status from individuals of certain nationalities and revoking humanitarian parole granted to Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, which contradicts the narrative that these very same countries are experiencing the most dire human rights crises in the region. At the same time, the United States has escalated mass immigration raids, is detaining and separating families, is unlawfully removing individuals from the US with no due process guarantees, and is criminally prosecuting individuals for the way in which they entered the country – treating people in need of international protection as criminals.These harmful policies have rippled across the region. Costa Rica and Panama have accepted deportation flights of third-country nationals from the United States – many with ongoing asylum claims – leaving them stranded with limited access to humanitarian assistance and international protection. El Salvador is complicit in the enforced disappearance of hundreds of Venezuelans illegally expelled from the US under the guise of the Alien Enemies Act in the notorious CECOT prison, who were in the midst of ongoing court processes, were arrested while complying with their immigration obligations, were already granted protections in the United States including under the Convention Against Torture, and were labeled as gang members for their tattoos or connection to the Venezuelan state of Aragua with no other evidence.The Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) between Canada and the United States bars most people crossing into Canada via the United States from seeking refugee protection in Canada, and vice versa. The agreement has forced individuals to attempt dangerous border crossings and has pushed people underground in order to seek safety, and resulted in people and families detained in the US. As the United States becomes increasingly unsafe for asylum seekers, the Canadian government must withdraw from the agreement immediately.The Dominican Republic has been implementing a series of racist migration policies, without even recognizing the right to seek asylum for those fleeing violence from Haiti, and targeting people of Haitian origin. Haitians are being collectively expelled from the Dominican Republic despite the worsening humanitarian and security crisis in Haiti, placing those forcibly returned at grave risk and undermining the principle of non-refoulement.People from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, and across the region and beyond are fleeing widespread human rights crises. Instead of finding refuge and protection, they are being met with hostility, militarized borders and criminalization. The immigration and asylum policies being implemented by countries across the Americas are fueled by racist and xenophobic rhetoric that dehumanizes people seeking safety.The situation is further exacerbated by the US government’s severe cuts to foreign assistance, which have weakened shelters and frontline organizations that provide life-saving support to people seeking safety and internally displaced people. From Costa Rica to Mexico to the Haiti-Dominican Republic border, organizations have been forced to scale back or close food, shelter and legal and psychosocial programs for people seeking safety, just as need grows.On World Refugee Day, Amnesty International urgently calls on states in the Americas to protect, not punish, people seeking safety. States must immediately restore access to asylum, reverse discriminatory policies and uphold their obligations under international law. We stand in solidarity with people across the region who have been forced to flee their homes in search of safety and dignity. Seeking safety is a human right. It’s time for governments to act like it.”