Category Archives: Refugees

Why haven’t I been scheduled for my political asylum interview?

17 Thursday Dec 2015

Posted by in Political Asylum, Refugees

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

political asylum applicants

©UNHCR/T.Sziget

I recently saw a woman in my San Francisco office who came to see me because her political asylum case has been pending for two years and she has not been scheduled for an interview.  This is not unusual and I have clients in my own caseload in the same situation.

The asylum division of United States and Citizenship Services (“USCIS”) recently published Asylum Office Statistics which, when viewed, explain why there is such a delay.

At the San Francisco Asylum Office, alone, there are currently 11,542 cases pending.  I guess my clients should be happy that we are not at the Los Angeles Asylum Office, which at 21,878, has the highest number of cases pending nationwide.

In September 2015, the San Francisco Asylum Office scheduled 505 interviews and conducted 307 of them.   Some of the scheduled interviews did not occur because either the applicant rescheduled it or USCIS rescheduled it.  Nevertheless, given that small number of people interviewed and the number of pending cases, it is understandable that it is going to take a long time for the asylum office to work through their backlog.

The report contains other interesting statistics.  For example, it lists the top ten leading nationalities for asylum applications filed with USCIS.  As of September 2015, these nationalities are (from most to least):

  1. China
  2. Mexico
  3. Guatemala
  4. Venezuela
  5. El Salvador
  6. Honduras
  7. Ecuador
  8. India
  9. Haiti
  10. Ukraine

If you would like to know when your interview may be scheduled, you may check the Affirmative Asylum Scheduling Bulletin.  USCIS claims that they update this monthly.  The most recent bulletin is current as of December 8, 2015 and shows that in San Francisco, for all cases (not filed by children), they are currently scheduling cases that were filed in August – September of 2013.

Since it is taking approximately two years to be scheduled for an interview, you will need to be sure to update the information in your case as the basis upon which you may have filed for asylum no longer may be as strong as when you filed and/or you may need to update supporting documents on the conditions in the home country.

 

 

An Anthropologist Unravels the Mysteries of Mexican Migration

16 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by in Refugees

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

The Land of Open Graves

I read an interesting article in the online version of National Geographic, first reported in Bender’s Daily Immigration Bulletin.  The article is an interview with Jason De León, an anthropologist and the author of a book, The Land of Open Graves:  Living and Dying on the Migrant Trail.   The author grew up in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. His father is Mexican, his mother is from the Philippines, and he spent his childhood speaking Spanish.  He is currently an assistant professor at the University of Michigan.   In the interview, he speaks about why U.S. border crossing deaths go largely unrecorded while European migrant deaths are headline news; why American economic and drugs policies helped create the crisis; and why he calls the Prevention Through Deterrence program, which funnels migrants towards the Sonora Desert, a “killing machine.”

Continue reading →

What immigrants can be thankful for this Thanksgiving

26 Thursday Nov 2015

Posted by in Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, Family Immigration, Refugees

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

ThanksgivingIt seems the news is all bad in terms of immigration – stories about closing our borders, or denying the admission of Syrian refugees, or talk of eliminating birthright citizenship.  With this kind of news, it seems that the situation is hopeless for immigrants. It does seam bleak.  Nevertheless, I decided to focus on the positive this Thanksgiving and have come up with a list of programs/visas/strategies for which we can give thanks.

  • The refugee program continues to exist

I do not know what will happen with the Syrian refugees and I hope it will be resolved so that everyone feels secure but nevertheless we should be glad that we have a refugee program at all.  We have admitted people into the United States from all corners of the world. Right now the topic of the day is Syrian refugees, but in our recent past, we have allowed people to enter as refugees from Viet Nam, the former Soviet Union, and Cuba.  We have a tradition, and indeed a responsibility, to admit people into the United States who have been persecuted abroad.  Although there is controversy with the current situation, we should be thankful that we remain in a position to admit refugees.

  • Immigrants have strong advocates who are involved litigation throughout the country on their behalf

Advocates have tirelessly worked on litigation relating to the Flores v. Reno settlement which regulates the treatment and conditions of unaccompanied minors in federal immigration custody.  Litigation is also pending concerning the visa bulletin and the State Department’s counting of available visas.  People are calling this litigation “Visagate.”  Finally, there is ongoing litigation about DAPA  ( Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents) and an expansion of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Action).  By Executive Action, President Obama was seeking to the defer the deportation of certain parents of US Citizens and permanent residents.  He also sought to expand the number of children eligible for DACA.  The State of Texas filed and obtained an injunction against the government in implementing these programs.  Currently the government has filed a Petition for a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the injunction blocking DAPA and expanded DACA.  Despite the setbacks, it is nice to know that we have such strong advocates working on these issues.

  • The USCIS website is much improved

I know that it may seem silly to give thanks to a website but it has not always been the case that USCIS had a website that had accurate, current information on it.  In preparation for this blog post, I was able to go to their website and easily find the material I needed.  Over time the website has become easier to use and has been made to include timely and relevant information.  This is not true for all government agencies.  Of course there are still problems with USCIS and the use of electronic technology but at least the website is working well as a place from which to obtain general information.

  • We have visas that are issued for humanitarian cases

Humanitarian visas have not been around that long.  U visas, for victims of certain crimes and who have been helpful to law enforcement, have only been around since 2000.  The same is true for the T visa, issued for victims of Human Trafficking.  We are fortunate that our government has recognized these victims and that the law allows them to apply for temporary status, leading to a permanent status. These visas are used a lot now but there was a time, when we did not have them.  They help people remain safely in the United States who would, in most cases, not otherwise have had a way of legally remaining here.

We have a great deal for which to be thankful.  Have a nice Thanksgiving.

 

Only white Christians allowed – if 26 governors have it their way

17 Tuesday Nov 2015

Posted by in Refugees

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

U.S. Flag

© Kirsty Pargeter | Dreamstime Stock Photos

According to an article in the New York Times today, governors in almost half of the states in the United States have told President Obama that they do not support his plan to accept 10,000 refugees into the United States from Syria and they do not want the refugees to enter their states.

There are two issues here: (1) the acceptance of refugees into the United States from Syria and (2) the ability of a state to keep people out.  The governors have blended the two, to their discredit.

It is legitimate to be concerned with security.  Everyone we admit into the United States should undergo security/background checks.  But once immigrants have done that, people should be free to live where they want to live.  We do not live in the former Soviet Union.   We do not have internal passports and we do not restrict internal migration.   Yes, everyone is scared, but we cannot allow a governor to say who should be allowed to live in a state and who should not.

I do not know if the governors were serious.  Maybe they were trying to score some political points.  Assuming they were serious, how do they think they can control who is going to live in their state?

Let’s assume that such an idea actually is placed into law and that the governors are successful in preventing refugees from entering their particular state.   Such a law, if it could even be passed, would set a dangerous precedent.  We cannot allow the government to say that people of a certain religion cannot live somewhere.  Right now it is the Muslims.  Next it could be ——– [fill in the blank with an unpopular religion or minority.]  We do not have to go far back in our nation’s history to remember the internment camps for Japanese, or in our world’s history to remember Nazi Germany’s “laws” against Jews.

If safety is our concern, we should focus on safety from the beginning, not on hatred once people are properly admitted into the United States.