What is Asylum?
Asylum is an immigration status granted to people who have "suffered persecution or fear that they will suffer persecution due to race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion”. They must prove that they have a “well-founded fear of persecution” if they are returned to their home country. Those who are granted asylum are protected from being deported. They are authorized to live and work in the U.S., can petition to bring family members to the U.S., and can apply to be a permanent resident. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people are forced to flee their homes due to violence, poverty, gangs, and corrupt regimes and apply to the U.S. for asylum.
Under the Trump administration. the right to asylum has been under constant, escalating attacks. Vicious and inhumane policies are being enacted with the goal of denying entrance to those seeking safety. Trump has been building his wall with the cement of his Remain in Mexico policy and the barbed wire of his detention camps. He continues to bolster this wall with even more draconian policies.
Over the last few years, those who presented themselves at the southern border have been forced to wait from three to nine months before being allowed to enter the US and begin the asylum process. They are then given an initial Credible Fear Interview (CFI), which is a supposedly “low bar” test. As of the most recent statistics, over 86% of people’s asylum cases were denied at this point of the process and they were deported back to their home countries. Most of those who pass the CFI are immediately taken to the ICE prison camps and remain there for the duration of their immigration hearings, appeals, and court appearances. On the average, those who are granted asylum have endured the abysmal conditions of these camps for close to three years.
How can asylum seekers be released from the detention camps? One major way they are released is by having a host sponsor who opens their home to them. Over time, more immigration judges are releasing fewer migrants, even when they do have a sponsor. This makes it all the more urgent for people to become sponsors now before these prison doors close even more tightly!
Back to Sponsor an Asylum-Seeker
Under the Trump administration. the right to asylum has been under constant, escalating attacks. Vicious and inhumane policies are being enacted with the goal of denying entrance to those seeking safety. Trump has been building his wall with the cement of his Remain in Mexico policy and the barbed wire of his detention camps. He continues to bolster this wall with even more draconian policies.
Over the last few years, those who presented themselves at the southern border have been forced to wait from three to nine months before being allowed to enter the US and begin the asylum process. They are then given an initial Credible Fear Interview (CFI), which is a supposedly “low bar” test. As of the most recent statistics, over 86% of people’s asylum cases were denied at this point of the process and they were deported back to their home countries. Most of those who pass the CFI are immediately taken to the ICE prison camps and remain there for the duration of their immigration hearings, appeals, and court appearances. On the average, those who are granted asylum have endured the abysmal conditions of these camps for close to three years.
How can asylum seekers be released from the detention camps? One major way they are released is by having a host sponsor who opens their home to them. Over time, more immigration judges are releasing fewer migrants, even when they do have a sponsor. This makes it all the more urgent for people to become sponsors now before these prison doors close even more tightly!
Back to Sponsor an Asylum-Seeker