Under the Media Radar, Trump Is Locking Up More Refugees
<https://www.truthdig.com/articles/under-the-media-radar-trump-is-locking-up
-more-refugees/>
The Statue of Liberty. ( <https://unsplash.com/photos/1_EedIBc6jY> Fabian
Fauth / Unsplash)
Lock them up and throw away the key. That sums up President Donald Trump's
efforts to stop immigrants from seeking asylum when threatened by gangs,
abusive spouses or their own murderous homelands. Thanks to a preoccupied
news media, Trump is getting away with it.
The Trump effort is revealed in a lawsuit filed by
<https://www.freedomforimmigrants.org/> Freedom for Immigrants and several
other pro-immigrant groups. The suit alleges that Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) field offices are denying parole or bond to immigrants
asking for asylum and holding them in detention centers until they are
granted hearings in chronically backlogged immigration courts. The process
may take months or even years. In the past, many more were paroled or
released on bond until their court hearings came up.
"We demand an immediate end to the arbitrary, prolonged, and indiscriminate
detention of asylum seekers," said Christina M. Fialho, co-founder and
executive director of Freedom for Immigrants, in a
<http://www.endisolation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/CIVIC_Letter_ParoleD
enials.pdf> letter to federal immigration officials. Fialho, writing on
behalf of other organizations in the lawsuit, said:
"Denying parole or bond to families and individuals who are simply
exercising their right to seek protection under international law and who in
many cases have urgent humanitarian needs, including the right to family
unity, is a gross injustice. The practice tears apart families and
communities, and it has devastating impacts on an already traumatized
population."
This alleged denial of parole comes on top of another anti-immigrant ICE
policy: arresting undocumented parents and sending them to detention centers
far from their children. Such cases were cited in an American Civil
Liberties Union
<http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-aclu-lawsuit-immigrant-families-2018030
9-story.html> lawsuit filed earlier this month accusing the U.S. government
of separating immigrant families seeking asylum.
To be granted asylum, an immigrant must convince an immigration official and
then a court that she or he has "a well-founded fear of persecution . on
account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social
group, or political opinion." Courts have ruled that threatened assault by
criminal gangs fits that description.
The Trump administration's intent in going after asylum seekers, according
to a former federal immigration judge, is to deter them from coming to the
United States.
"The theory is that detention, particularly under poor conditions with no
access to lawyers, family, or friends, will grind down individuals so that
they abandon their claims. ." retired immigration judge
<http://immigrationcourtside.com/americas-real-immigration-crisis-the-attack
-on-due-process-in-the-united-states-immigraton-courts/> Paul Wickham
Schmidt told a group of lawyers last year. "As they return to their
countries and relate their unhappy experiences with the U.S. justice system,
that supposedly will 'deter' other individuals from coming."
The numbers of asylum-seeking immigrants is relatively small compared to the
approximately 11 million unauthorized, undocumented immigrants in this
country. The Trump administration considers asylum a loophole in the law,
opening the door to more immigration.
In response to the worsening global humanitarian crisis in Central America
and the Middle East, the Obama administration had increased the number of
refugees the United States accepts annually, from 85,000 in fiscal 2016 to
110,000 in fiscal 2017. And that from a president who was attacked by
immigrant advocates as "
<https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/03/04/285907255/national-counc
il-of-la-raza-dubs-obama-deporter-in-chief> deporter in chief."
Trump issued executive orders to cut refugee admissions to 50,000 and
suspend the refugee resettlement program for 120 days, according to the
<https://www.migrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/publications/TrumpatOne
-final.pdf> Migration Policy Institute. A federal court has blocked these
moves and more than 42,000 refugees have been resettled this year.
Still, large numbers of those seeking asylum are ending up in federal
custody. The difference between the enforcement policies of Trump and Obama
is illustrated by these figures from the <http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/>
TRAC Immigration Project of Syracuse University. Under Obama, 54 percent of
immigrants seeking asylum were paroled while awaiting a court hearing. Under
Trump, just 25 percent have been released, with the rest held in detention
centers awaiting an immigration court hearing.
While the numbers of those seeking asylum are fairly small compared to the
many millions of undocumented immigrants in the country, their plight
illustrates important points about the immigration controversy.
One is the utter determination of the Justice Department and the Department
of Homeland Security to crack down on immigrants. Rebuffed by the courts,
the federal authorities have proceeded anyway. They are able to do this
because immigration cops are focused on deportations and because the laws
governing asylum are so complicated that only an experienced immigration
lawyer can navigate them.
The overwhelming number of asylum seekers have no such representation,
either when they are interviewed by immigration police or in court. Imagine
the terror of a refugee trying to answer questions, knowing that prison or
separation from his or her kids may await.
Another important point is the failure of much of the news media to cover
the situation. I know, after wading through the asylum laws, that it is
complicated. Trump's porn stars and madman management style are more
interesting and get more clicks, readers and cable TV viewers.
But the fate of the asylum seekers shows the contempt that Trump and his
minions have for civil rights, not only for immigrants but also for anyone
who challenges him.
Journalists, suffering from a short attention span, forget this. They've got
to understand they may be Trump's next target. The asylum cases are a
warning for us all.
<https://www.truthdig.com/author/bill_boyarsky/> Bill Boyarsky
Political Correspondent
Bill Boyarsky is a political correspondent for Truthdig. He is a former
lecturer in journalism at the Annenberg School for Communication of the
University of Southern California. Boyarsky was city editor of.
<https://www.truthdig.com/author/bill_boyarsky/>
Attachment:
image001.jpg
Description: Binary data
Attachment:
image002.png
Description: Binary data
