Posted on 07/18/2018 6:50:15 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
Go away. That’s the message the Trump administration is sending to migrants at our southern border. Under a new policy being implemented, fear of domestic or gang violence will no longer be accepted as grounds for asylum. This follows a decision by Attorney General Jeff Sessions that people making such claims will be turned back by border officials before they can plead their case in court. Announcing the decision last month, Sessions said it “restores sound principles of asylum and long-standing principles of immigration law.”
Actually, this move by the Trump administration further guts the right to asylum. It goes against both the spirit and letter of the law governing humanitarian relief. It marks the latest attempt by the administration to curtail legal entry into this country. Sadly, those who will suffer as a result are among the most vulnerable people in the world.
The right of asylum is established under both U.S. and international law. To be eligible for asylum, a person must show that they suffered persecution in their home country because of their race, religion, nationality, political views or membership in a particular social group, and that they would be in danger if they returned home. Generally, an asylum seeker must go through a background check and pass a series of interviews before they learn if their application will be granted or denied.
The president and his attorney general have made it clear that they have a low opinion of this process. Trump has tweeted that migrants should be sent back “with no judges or court cases.”
Sessions says that “dirty immigration lawyers” push their clients to make “fake claims” through asylum “loopholes.”
Their rhetoric is troubling, as it amounts to a no-win situation for migrants. If people arrive at our southern border ill-equipped to navigate our complex immigration system, Sessions’ new policy means that they are likely to be swiftly turned away. Yet migrants who have some understanding of their rights are, according to Sessions, fraudulently “gaming” the system.
There is a case to be made that the Trump administration itself is “gaming” the asylum process – because Sessions is imposing his hardline immigration views on a system that was designed to be compassionate and fair. Under his guidance, border officials are to weigh whether a person entered the country illegally in considering their asylum claim. In fact, it is legal to come to the U.S. without papers and ask for asylum.
Before a California judge issued an injunction blocking family separations at the border, administration officials repeatedly said that asylum seekers who didn’t want to be separated from their children should present themselves at a port of entry, which they called the legal way to ask for asylum. Not true. Section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) allows asylum applicants to apply “whether or not at a designated point of arrival.” And some border officials have been telling asylum seekers at ports of entry to come back later; one family was turned away nine times. This is another violation of the INA, which mandates that people who request asylum be immediately processed – not turned away and left to languish on border bridges.
For migrants fleeing horrific violence in Central America, the asylum process is extremely difficult. After completing an often-harrowing journey to the U.S. border, migrants then have to face a professional prosecutor and an immigration judge. Many do so without lawyers, and most asylum claims are not successful. According to data compiled by researchers at Syracuse University, the 2017 denial rate for asylum claims was 61.8 percent, and denial rates were higher for people from Central America: 88 percent – nearly nine of every 10 people from Mexico; 79.2 percent for those from El Salvador; 78.1 percent for Honduras; and 74.7 percent for Guatemala. Now the Trump administration is making it even harder for people to make asylum claims, by allowing border agents to turn away people before they ever step foot on U.S. soil Not only does this interfere with migrants’ potential due process rights, it could result in thousands of people being sent back to face mortal danger.
For all the controversy surrounding the asylum issue, each year the U.S. admits a relatively low number of people in this category. In fiscal year 2016, the total number of individuals granted asylum by the U.S. was about 20,000 – roughly the size of a small town.
Yes, we are a nation of laws and these laws should be respected. Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy, which refers all unauthorized border crossers for criminal prosecution, is nonetheless problematic because it makes criminals of people who are exercising their right to asylum. And despite some misleading talk from conservatives that migrants should stay home and apply for asylum at a U.S. consulate or embassy abroad, that is not an option. Asylum law requires that an applicant be physically present in the U.S.
The Trump administration’s new restrictions on asylum are legally questionable, inhumane and wrong. The U.S. should not be turning its back on desperate people seeking humanitarian relief.
"Yes, we are a nation of laws and these laws should be respected.",
The reason we have an immigration problem is our government didn't enforce immigration laws.
Our government ignored our immigration laws and keep adding exceptions which either became 'precedent' or were upheld by liberal judges.
It's going to take years to untangle the Gordian Knot of immigration laws and exceptions. I don't believe even Trump can do it in two terms but we have to start now and we have to target the exception cases and abuses.
Watch for ‘Asylum’ to be the buzz-word with the Socialist Talking Heads this week...
So. Fecking. Predictable!
The US doesn’t have horrific violins in many of the ‘Rat Urban Utopias?
“Fear of domestic violence” l cannot think of a bigger loophole. Anyone could make such a claim what BS.
—good-—the only move better than this would be to start sending invaders back in body bags-—
Good! We’re not Motel 6 for the whole world and it’s about damn time these countries start fixing their nations and stop expecting the American taxpayer to do it.
I see this approach as very similar to some pro-abortion arguments.
1) A young girl has been forcibly raped by her father and now she is pregnant. And we know the baby will have birth defects. It’s totally tragic! This is why abortion must be made safe legal and rare! For everybody! Anytime they want it!
2) Some desperate refugees seek humanitarian relief. They are in danger! This is why we should have no borders and allow everyone to come here and vote for the Democrat of their choice.
I say: No. Do the right thing. Maintain national sovereignty and respect the rights and lives of US citizens.
Not original, though, since the infiltrators into Europe are seeking “asylum”. And the biggest (but not the only) troublemakers are the “failed asylum seekers”, amazingly enough.
There is no “right” to asylum.
It is a privilege to be construed according to the needs of the granting country.
And these attorneys never include the word ‘prove’ which is in the definition of ‘asylum’. Prove your claims or go home!
There is no ‘right’ to asylum.
Asylum is granted by the host nation and it the charity of its people.
We have a very short eight year window of Trump in which to reverse 30 years of the Bush Plan for North Mexico (aka USA).
If we fail, we lose our country.
Firstly, applications should only be accepted OUTDIDE THE UNITED STATES. You should have to go to an embassy or consulate and apply the legal way. Anybody caught on our territory illegally should be deported and any future asylum claim automatically denied. That instantly crushes the incentive to enter illegally. Once you’re caught, you are out forever.
Oh, and of course if you are already in another country like Mexico for example, you are away from the threat and have asylum already. All the international agreements say that already. Funny, no borders advocates aren’t keen on those treaties when it doesn’t yield the outcome they desire.
“Go away. That’s the message the Trump administration is sending to migrants at our southern border. “
Migrants ok. Illegal aliens not.
Hey Reyes, as you state, political asylum provides relief from specified actions of ones home country government. It is not designed or intended to provide relief from the actions of ones neighbors or ones home country crime cartels.
>>“Fear of domestic violence” l cannot think of a bigger loophole. Anyone could make such a claim what BS.
Indeed, to quote from the article:
“To be eligible for asylum, a person must show that they suffered persecution in their home country because of their race, religion, nationality, political views or membership in a particular social group, and that they would be in danger if they returned home.”
That’s what “US and international law” states. None of those conditions mentions ‘domestic violence’. They are also required to seek asylum in the first non-failed state they enter, so anyone from south of mexico should not be eligible for asylum here.
—good-—the only move better than this would be to start sending invaders back in body bags-—
<<>>
A bounty on border crossers by civilian volunteers
until the wall is built—economical and efficient.
There is no right to asylum.
Asylum is a gift that can be graciously granted.
Most nations are large enough, so that a flight of only a few miles away is often enough to escape from most “domestic violence”. Flight across an international border should not be necessary in most instances.
Flight from internal terrorist threats is a little more complex, but most generally, there are relatively safe districts within one’s native land. If not, then clamoring at the gates of an embassy may be way more effective in gaining refuge than an unauthorized border crossing.
Of course, that is why US Marines are stationed at many American embassies around the world. Once in a while, a ringer tries to get inside the gates.
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