Today, many people in the United States associate Latin America and Latin Americans with immigration. Yet there is little understanding of what reasons cause Latin Americans to migrate, what laws and policies constrain immigrants and asylum-seekers, what their journeys are like, or even what makes an immigrant different from a refugee or asylee.
What are the differences between an Asylum Seeker and a Refugee?
An Asylum Seeker is an individual who is applying for refugee status, however, their claim for that status has yet to be evaluated.
A Refugee is an individual who has been granted protections under international law that was established by the 1951 Refugee Convention.
What are the courses of action that can be used by asylum seekers to obtain refugee status?
There are two ways to obtain refugee status: Affirmative Asylum and Defensive Asylum.
Affirmative asylum is used when an individual is legally in the United States because they have obtained a Visa or Work Permit. This allows the individual to utilize Asylum offices located in major cities for assistance. This option is often more individualized and accurate.
The second course of action, Defensive Asylum, is used when an individual crosses the border and then turns themselves over to Border Protection. This means that the person is presenting their own defense in order to stop their deportation. Asylum seekers who use this route have many more challenges than their counterparts. For example, the majority of U.S. Border Patrol Workers are not sensitive to the situations and obstacles many asylum seekers have experienced. Therefore, border patrol officers are not sufficiently trained to accommodate those using Defensive Asylum.
Influential Policies and Consequences
The 1951 Refugee Convention
Before World War II there had not been a concrete international consensus regarding refugee law. However during and after WWII, large numbers of people were displaced or forcibly moved out of their country. This led the international community to create laws that define and protect refugees and asylum seekers.
The 1967 Protocol
The 1951 Refugee Convention and its later amendments known as the 1967 Protocol define a refugee as someone who “is outside of his or her country of nationality or habitual residence; has a well-founded fear of being persecuted because of his or her race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion; and is unable or unwilling to avail him or herself of the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear of persecution”.
Prevention through deterrence
This policy of Prevention through Deterrence was presented in 1994 by Untied States Border Patrol. Its goal was to deter migrants and asylum seekers from crossing the U.S. border by rerouting migration into more perilous conditions. They did this by policing the urban areas commonly traveled through, thus causing most migrants to use a more treacherous route such as walking through deserts and wilderness. The hope of U.S. Border Patrol was to deter people from attempting to cross the border because the journey was dangerous. This prevention technique has not discouraged many in this perilous attempt. It has, however, caused the death and disappearance of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers.
Operation Streamline
Operation Streamline was established in 2005 by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. The establishment of this program means that anyone caught crossing the border illegal can now face federal criminal charges. This program was effective in border states and recently expanded to California in 2018. This program has contributed to the massive backlog of immigration court cases. Since there has been a large increase in charges but no substantial increase in immigration judges or funding to immigration courts. This means that most court cases need to be “fast tracked” which can undermine due process.
2014 Immigration Crisis
In 2014 there was an unprecedented increase in unaccompanied child migrants as well as parents with young children crossing the U.S/Mexico border. This uptick in migrants had overwhelmed the immigration system. The system was built to aid around 6,000 to 8,000 children per year; however, in 2014 there were 50,000. With the system being overwhelmed to such a degree the Obama administration had developed a “get tough” approach on child migration. This led to the creation of the “rocket docket” where the length of time available to get a lawyer was shortened from a year to just twenty one days. The goal of this policy was to speed up immigration hearings. This policy came under criticism because of how it undermined due process and left children without any legal representation.
“Zero Tolerance” Immigration Policy
The Trump Administration’s Zero Tolerance Immigration Policy was announced in April of 2018. This policy is similar to that of Operation Streamline but takes it a step further by requiring charges against everyone who is apprehended at the border; this includes people who are seeking asylum.
Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy has also caused children to be separated from their parents while their parents are awaiting trial. As well as increasing the criminalization of immigration, this policy was also meant to deter people from attempting to come to the U.S. because of the threat of family separation.
In June of 2018 Trump signed an executive order to end the family separation policy; however, 3,000 children had already been separated by this time. Even though this executive order claimed to have halted this policy, that is false because it is estimated that between the months of April and August of 2018 6,000 family units were separated.
Migrant Protection Protocol
The Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP) was instated in January of 2019. This policy forces people seeking entry into the U.S. to remain in Mexico, thus charging Mexico with the responsibility of providing adequate humanitarian assistance while those seeking to enter the U.S. await their court date. This is also know as the “Remain in Mexico” Policy. This policy has been scrutinized for multiple reasons. First, it denies migrants and asylum seekers transparency in the proceedings or lack of action in their case. This policy makes it much harder to find legal representation and/or council because many of the migrants are not from Mexico nor it is the original country of origin from which they are fleeing.
New Fees for Applying for Asylum and Citizenship
In July of 2020 the Trump administrations U.S citizenship and Immigration services had revised citizenship, naturalization and had created a new fee to apply for asylum. This change had raised the fee to apply online for citizenship from $640 to $1,160 and had created a new $50 fee to apply for asylum. The U.S is now one of four counties in the world that actually charges an asylum fee; these countries are Fiji, Australia, and Iran. These changes took affect on October 2nd, 2020.
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