international immigration refugee-law asylum
Is criminal prosecution of asylum seekers who entered the US illegally a violation of the Refugee Convention?
<p>The United States is a party to the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, and Article 1, paragraph 1 of that protocol incorporates Articles 2-34 of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Article 31, paragraph 1 of the 1951 Refugee Convention says:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Contracting States shall not impose penalties, on account of their
  illegal entry or presence, on refugees who, coming directly from a
  territory where their life or freedom was threatened in the sense of
  article 1, enter or are present in their territory without
  authorization, provided they present themselves without delay to the
  authorities and show good cause for their illegal entry or presence.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Arguably, criminal prosecution is such a "penalty" that states should not be able to impose on refugees (or people who claim to be refugees until their claim is denied) for illegal entry if they promptly turned themselves in and requested asylum after entering.</p>

<p>That convention is not uniform across signatory nations, and there are quite a number of <a href="https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&amp;mtdsg_no=V-5&amp;chapter=5&amp;lang=en" rel="nofollow noreferrer">declarations and reservations</a>, but it turns out that the US only had a few fiscal modifications. Article 44(1) states that </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Any Contracting State may denounce this Convention at any time by a
  notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations</p>
</blockquote>

<p>but that has not been done by the US. So, Art. 31 would be applicable.</p>

<p>Perhaps of equal interest is US law which relates to that topic, namely <a href="https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-94/pdf/STATUTE-94-Pg102.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The Refugee Act of 1980</a>, and the <a href="https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-79/pdf/STATUTE-79-Pg911.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965</a>. <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1325" rel="nofollow noreferrer">8 USC 1325</a> makes it a prosecutable offense if one </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>(1) enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place
  other than as designated by immigration officers, or (2) eludes
  examination or inspection by immigration officers</p>
</blockquote>

<p>There appears to be no exception articulated for refugees in Title 8 (a rather large read), nor in <a href="https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-94/pdf/STATUTE-94-Pg102.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The Refugee Act of 1980</a> which was mainly passed in connection with the 1967 Protocol. <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1158" rel="nofollow noreferrer">8 USC 1158</a> specifies asylum procedures, and does not override sec. 1325. So it does seem that US law is at odds with the 1967 Protocol.</p>
