This semester I am interning with the National Immigrant Justice Center of Heartland Alliance. To further general awareness/knowledge of our country/world/immigration system, I'm going to offer updates.
Detained Immigrants. When persons flee their home countries to find safety in the US, they come to seek ASYLUM. Being a REFUGEE is asking for protection while being outside the US. Asylum is sought once in the US. Asylum happens one of two ways:
1. Once in the US on a visa or with a document (legal or illegally), one goes to a lawyer or organization to seek asylum. These are the persons with whom I work.
2. Upon arriving at Customs, the person declares they are afraid to return to their countries and are seeking asylum. At this moment, Customs officers detain them and put them in detainment centers (often local jails).
These detainment centers are overflowing. At any one time, there are approx. 30,000 detained individuals in our country. Therefore, the overflow are 'housed' in jails, and treated the same as the inmates. Their asylum cases *generally* go through the courts within a few months, but in some cases take years. Apart from the legal process, it astounds me that these people seeking asylum are imprisoned. Literally. They are coming to the US to seek shelter, to be safe, after having been tortured, received death threats, been raped, being heavily persecuted... and we put them in shackles (literally) and van them to a detainment center or jail.
Something's gotta give. I'm intrigued to learn more...
PS. If anyone is interested, there are volunteer opportunities to go to the detainment centers and talk with the immigrants to hear their stories and document them so we can then decide if they are eligible for legal help. Talk with me.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment