Declaration — East Bay Sanctuary v. Trump (Doc. 71-10, filed 2018-12-04)

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A Declaration of Michael Smith, Refugee Rights Program Director, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, Document 71-10, filed 12/04/18 in East Bay Sanctuary v. Trump, No. 4:18-cv-06810-JST, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, made pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746. The declaration states that it supplements the previous declaration executed on November 9, 2018. It states that the Presidential Proclamation and Interim Final Rule frustrate EBSC's mission to assist asylum seekers in filing affirmative applications, and that EBSC cannot represent asylum seekers who enter at a port of entry. It states that, if the new policy remains in effect, EBSC stands to lose nearly all of its funding for the affirmative asylum program. It is executed the 3rd day of December, 2018 over the name Michael Smith.

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Case 4:18-cv-06810-JST Document 71-10 Filed 12/04/18 Page1of3

DECLARATION OF MICHAEL SMITH, REFUGEE RIGHTS PROGRAM DIRECTOR,
EAST BAY SANCTUARY COVENANT

I, Michael Smith, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, declare as follows:

1. [make this declaration based on my personal knowledge except where I have indicated
otherwise. If called as a witness, I would testify competently and truthfully to these matters.

2. 1am the Refugee Rights Program Director of the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant
(“EBSC”). I helped start EBSC’s affirmative asylum program in 1992, and have been with the
organization since. In my current role, I oversee our affirmative asylum practice, which includes
over 500 cases currently pending before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
(“USCIS”). The vast majority of clients in our affirmative asylum pro gram—approximately
80%—entered without inspection.

3. I submit this declaration to supplement my previous declaration in East Bay Sanctuary
Covenant v. Trump, which was executed on November 9, 2018.

4, The Presidential Proclamation and Interim Final Rule at issue in East Bay Sanctuary
Covenant vy. Trump frustrate EBSC’s mission to assist asylum seekers in filing affirmative
applications for asylum.

5. EBSC’s affirmative asylum program is the organization’s most important program. It
is the reason EBSC has grown and developed other programs.

6. EBSC cannot represent asylum seekers who enter at a port of entry along the southern
border, for two principal reasons.

7. First, EBSC cannot represent asylum seekers who enter at a port of entry because
EBSC is not located near the southern border. We are located hundreds of miles away, in
Berkeley, California. Most of the asylum seekers who enter at a port of entry remain detained in

detention facilities located near the border,

Case 4:18-cv-06810-JST Document 71-10 Filed 12/04/18 Page 2 of 3

8. Second, EBSC cannot represent asylum seekers who enter at a port of entry because
we only rarely represent people in removal proceedings. Our program is focused on representing
individuals who file affirmative applications for asylum. Noncitizens who present at a port of
entry and ask to apply for asylum are not eligible to file an affirmative application for asylum.
Instead, they are limited to seeking asylum defensively in removal proceedings.

9. Thus, even those asylum seekers who arrive at a port of entry and are fortunate enough
to be granted release from detention, and who then manage to relocate to the Bay Area, are not
the kind of asylum applicants we can represent. That is because they will still be in removal
proceedings and cannot apply for asylum affirmatively.

10. The only noncitizens who enter at ports of entry who might later be eligible to file
affirmative applications for asylum are those who have visas of some kind. But for the most
part, such individuals fall outside of the population who it is EBSC’s mission is to serve, as they
make too much money to qualify for EBSC’s services.

11. EBSC’s mission is to serve poor individuals who have few resources and cannot
afford attorneys. And the grant that funds EBSC’s work is only for people who make under
250% of the poverty guideline.

12. EBSC does affirmative asylum cases, not defensive asylum cases. We only do
defensive asylum cases in the rare situation that one of our clients who initially applies
affirmatively is then referred to immigration court by the Asylum Office.

13. EBSC is neither staffed nor funded to provide representation for asylum applicants in
removal proceedings. To do so would involve a fundamental change in our program and

mission.
Case 4:18-cv-06810-JST Document 71-10 Filed 12/04/18 Page 3 of 3

14. As explained in my prior declaration, if the new policy remains in effect, EBSC
stands to lose nearly all of our funding for our affirmative asylum program, because 80% of our
clients in that program entered without inspection. But under the new policy, if they enter
without inspection, they will no longer be able to access asylum at all.

15. Since the announcement of the new policy, EBSC has had to divert resources away
from its core programs to address the new policy. We have had to dedicate time to training staff
on the new policy as well as to speaking with clients who have heard about the policy and are
concerned about how it may affect them.

I hereby declare under the penalty of perjury pursuant to the laws of the United States

that the above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.

EXECUTED this 3rd day of December, 2018.

Michael Smith

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