Reforming Our Asylum and Refugee Programs Would Be Good for Everyone

Streamlining the process would help Americans and migrants alike, and it would improve border security.

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Several years ago, NPR reported on a store owner from Honduras who came to the U.S. in search of asylum. She had been brutally attacked by gang members for failing to meet their extortion demands. They poured acid on her arm and beat her so badly that four of her fingers were later amputated. She fled and went into hiding in another part of Honduras. When she returned home five years later, the gang threatened to kill her.

After fleeing to America, she recounted her experience to an asylum officer during her credible fear interview (frequently the first step in the asylum application process), and then showed the officer the acid burn scar and her four missing fingers.

You probably assume that she obtained asylum in the U.S., right? Wrong. She was deported before she could even present her case to an immigration judge. But why?      

Most people understand that asylum seekers must demonstrate that they were harmed or will be harmed in their country of origin. But, as so many find out the hard way, they also must demonstrate that they were harmed on account of their political opinion, race, religion, nationality, or membership in a particular social group (PSG). 

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  1. Avatar photo
    Rajeev

    I would love to see the criteria for asylum & refugee status expand. I think we have been far too narrow in our definitions. Better to let someone in that maybe had another (often less desirable) alternative than to send back people that really have no other viable options. I admit there are potential downsides to allowing in greater numbers of immigrants under these statuses but it is by far a net positive.

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  2. Mathew A

    "You probably assume that she obtained asylum in the U.S., right"

    Nope. Asylum is for people fleeing government prosecution from their home country, not just violence even gang violence.

    That being said if we ended our failed war on drugs that is fueling these gangs and causing much of this illegal immigration that would be a great thing.

    Our failed war on drugs is literally causing some of these countries to turn into failed states. And of course also causing lots of gang violence and deaths here. Not to mention all the opioid fatalities that are also mainly the cause of prohibition (just like all the bad hooch during alcohol prohibition was causing a lot of blindness and death)

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    Jeremy Davison

    This is an excellent commentary with truly realistic proposals to improve the immigration system. But who with power has any interest in this sort of reform?

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  4. Brook

    Thoughtful analysis. I learned a lot. It is amazing how much more complex issues become, and how much more difficult it is to offer solutions, when, radical though this may seem to the blissfully uninformed, one actually learns something about a subject before pontificating on it.

    The author has confirmed my view that the current system is broken; that red tape and bureaucratic nonsense abound; and that, if effective solutions are to be reached, reasoned debate, accompanied by compassion, must prevail over demagogic appeals to prejudice. I lack the knowledge to meaningfully critique the author’s recommendations, but, on the surface, they surely seem to merit careful consideration by grown-ups sincerely desirous of doing what is right for both the country and the migrants. I do not have confidence this will occur, but I do applaud The Dispatch for giving me this opportunity to think about what is, without question, a serious problem.

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    Martin

    Unfortunately many “capitalists” are suddenly in favor of bureaucratic central planning of the labor market with regard to potential employees who were born abroad.

    That we let bureaucrats decide who Americans are allowed to contract with, based on an arbitrary characteristic like birthplace, should be offensive to any freedom-loving person. It is sad that where immigration is concerned, many Americans embrace socialist central planning out of a fear of being out-competed either economically or politically. Our Founders were not such cowards.

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    1. Mathew A

      BS. A nation should be able to have control over it's borders.

      Moreover, if there is too much immigration for too long assimilation slows down or is halted. This presents problems to cultural cohesion. Different people can argue about what that rate is, but there is nothing wrong with setting limits. Something that basically every other country on the planet does.

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        Mike Shigley

        I am not sure that "too much immigration" causes a slow down or halt to assimilation. That certainly was not the case for the very heavy immigration from 1880-1920. On the other hand, social and cultural forces at work in that era might no longer exist. That is, a lot of the work of assimilation came from the strength of local church parishes and local political leaders. As well, I think then there was a greater pride in being an American. I don't mean to say that recent immigrants don't feel that pride but that long time citizens do not reinforce this feeling. There was also a reliance on learning English outside of the public school system and certainly none of this translating every thing and relying on English as a Second Language teaching philosophy. Of course, there were also a lot more and varied job opportunities that did not have today's educational requirements.

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        1. Mathew A

          I think if you have high enough immigration that you can start to have "little Italy", or "little Mexico" portions of a city it will slow down assimilation

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          1. Lwj

            We have had ethnic neighborhoods for our entire history.

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