No Shelter from the Storm
By Phuc Dao / Winter 2020
My mother witnessed first-hand the cruelty and the evils of the Vietnamese war. The far-off sound of a grenade explosion was the alarm that she woke-up to everyday. Hospital and schools were often the targets of bombing because the enemy could do the most damage. The bodies of the young and old littered street more than trash. Her father was a soldier fighting against the communist party and had been captured, tortured and killed. Her brother got caught in a firefight on his way home from getting water and was hit by a stray-bullet. After my mother met my father and had me, the opportunity to leave to the United States presented itself. My parents left behind everything they had including other family members to come to the United States in search of protection and opportunity for a better life. My mother's story is not unique. All across the world there are millions of people who live in fear due to war and violence. It is the right of people being prosecuted in their own countries to see protection in other countries. However, ever since Donald Trump came into office many anti-immigration changes have been implemented, that undermines asylum-seekers and immigrants.
My mother’s story is not unique, across the world there are millions of people who everyday live in the wake of violence and oppression. In 2011 as a result of the Syrian civil war hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives as a result of indiscriminate killing. Nearly 12 million people in Syria were left without food or running water and were in dire need for humanitarian aid. Afghanistan is another country whose people face violence. Decades of ongoing conflict and political instability has left Afghanistan as one of the world’s poorest and unstable countries.
Under national law, states have an obligation to help people fleeing persecution, but ever since coming into office Donald Trump has slashed refugee intake count and denied refuges admittance into the United States. In 2017 Trump lowered the cap of refugee intake to 50,000 which is more than half of the 110,000 caps that Obama had in place. He lowered it to 45,000 in fiscal 2018 and then to 30,000 in fiscal 2019. In the 2020 fiscal year Trump is once again proposing a lower celling cap, this time at 18,000 a record-low since 1980. The Trump administration will reserve 4000 refugee slots for Iraqis who worked with United States military, 1400 for people form Central America and 5,000 for people persecuted for their religion, and an additional 7500 slots are for those seeking family unifications and have been cleared for resettlement. Like my mother many people are fleeing their countries in search of safety. However, this will eliminate many opportunities for people fleeing war and persecution throughout the world to resettle in the United States. The United States was once a global-leader and role-model in aiding and protecting individuals, but since coming into office, Trump has toppled decades of practices that affects the world’s most vulnerable people.
In 2017 the Trump administration issued new guidance on how to determine whether an asylum applicant's fears of persecution are credible. The new guidance gave full authority to Attorney Generals through what is called their "self-referral authority to screen and decide who and who not to allow into the country for protection. In one case attorney general Jeff Sessions used his self-referral authority to deny Grace, a Guatemalan woman who was seeking asylum from 20 years domestic-abuse entrance into the united states, on grounds that gang-violence and domestic abuse was not valid reasons to seek protection. Under normal asylum laws Grace has strong claim to receive protection in the U.S and should have been given a fair chance to prove her case in court but was deported due to Sessions deciding against it. Another case is Beatriz B. who told Human Rights Watch she fled the Mexican state of Zacatecas with two teenage sons after men to be in a drug cartel kidnapped one of her sons. The men sent her requests to pay a ransom fee or else they will cut off his head and send her a picture. Despite paying the ransom she still received death threats. She decided to flee to the United States where she failed the "fear screening" and wasn't able to provide proof that she was in real-danger and was sent back home. In another case Eduardo N. age 25 was fleeing with his wife and daughter after one of his family members was killed by the cartel. He has relocated from Guatemala to Juarez where he has waited for over 6 moths without guarantee of entrance into the US.
On April 6, 2018 the Trump administration announced a "Zero-Tolerance" immigration policy that would separate thousands of children from their families. The policy was intended to deter illegal immigration by separating children and guardians that entered the United States illegally. Adults were prosecuted and either held in federal prisons or deported, while the children were labeled as "alien accomplices" and placed under custody by the Department of Health and Human Services (DACA). The internal watchdog for the Department of Homeland Security reported that the Trump administration anticipated it has separated 5,500 children with the "zero tolerance" policy with no effort in tracking these children or helping with reunification. Of the 5000 children 200 of which involved children under 5 years old, accounting to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which according to Attorney general Lee Gelerant is actionable by law. Furthermore, after these children are released, there is no guarantee they have family members that can be contacted. If a child is released their parents might have already been deported without contact information. The trump administration’s failure of keeping these children together with their families show negligence on their part to take care of the families that they are tearing apart.
The Trump Administration policies force asylum seekers to wait in dangerous conditions while they wait to make their case. When Asylum seekers look to make a court hearing on authorization into the United States the must go through a process called "metering", in which they must wait weeks or even months at border towns before a judge will hear their requests. Asylum seekers often time give up everything back at home in order to try to come to the United States and travel long distances with nothing to their name for just a court hearing, and even then, they are not guaranteed entry into the United States. Parents interviewed in shelters at these borders reported their children to be at risk of kidnapping, gang recruitment, physical violence and sexual abuse. There have been many instances where gang members wait at airports when asylum seekers first arrive in an attempt to kidnap or rob them. To date the metering policy have caused over 60,000 individuals to be sent back to border countries when their hearing was denied by a judge. When my parents were traveling from Vietnam, they had to travel 7 days with little food and water in a cramped boat to get a hearing to enter the United States. The uncertainty of getting entrance into the United States despite leaving everything behind was very anxiety inducing.
The "asylums cooperative agreements" have allowed the United State to send asylum seekers who are denied back to any country of origin they please. Between July and October 2019, the U.S signed the "asylum cooperative agreements' with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. This policy allows the United States to send back any asylum seekers to one of these countries regardless of where they came from, instead of letting them apply for protection and a place to stay in the United States. Asylum seekers leave behind their country in search of protection, on top of being denied into the United States they are also sent back to one of these unknown countries where they have no ties or resources. There have been many instances where Asylum seekers have been forced to stay in these countries after they are denied because they don't have the resources to go home, and these countries are just as bad if not worse than the original countries they were coming from. A person from anywhere in the world trying to get entrance into the United States can be sent to one of these countries when they are denied. Many Asylum seekers leave their country to escape violence, but these countries are not safe places to be. In 2016 there were 81.2 murders per 100,000 people in el Salvador and has been known as the most dangerous non-warzone country in the world. In 2015 Honduras had the highest rate of feminicide - or female murder - in the world. The majority of Asylum seekers are actually people coming from one of these countries in Central America because it is so bad over there. I one case a woman named Vanesa Castro came to seek asylum from gang violence in Guatemala, in which she had to wait in El Salvador for 3 months while the court would review her case. She had talked about how one day she was out for a walk and was almost kidnapped by a black van without license plate at night. Many times, refugee is kidnapped for ransom money.
My family saw first-hand the dangerous journey it takes for asylum seekers to enter the United States. When my family tried to enter the United States after traveling for weeks out at sea with nothing to their name. There were over 500 people fit into a boat that was supposed to hold 200. People were sitting in upright positions for 7 days straight because there was no area to lay down. Since there was very little water some people resorted to drinking Urine or seawater and many died due to dehydration. When they arrived at land, they were forced to stay at a refugee camp for 7 years before their case to enter the United States can be heard. When we at the camp we stayed indoors all the time because it was too dangerous to go outside and only went outside when absolutely necessary, like getting food or water. Despite staying at the camp for 7 years some families were denied entrance and forced to go home. The emotional stress of wasting 7 years of your life only to be sent back to Vietnam led many Vietnamese men to commit suicide. Others tried to escape into the cities but were captured and sent to prison, and then forcibly sent back to Vietnam.
If asylum seekers are finally able to enter the United States, they may find themselves unable to pay the fee to enter the United States. In November 2019, the Trump Administration proposed a rule that, if enacted, would make the U.S one of the only four countries worldwide that charge asylum seekers a fee to enter. Many of these people however, come from the poorest of living conditions and might not have the funds to come into the United States even if they are approved. Under U.S and international law seeking asylum should be a right not a privilege that you have to pay for. Furthermore, the proposed changes will not address the current delays at the border, people who are applying for relief will have to wait even longer amounts of time because of the fees involved.
Trump slashes aid to Central America immigration despite a majority of asylum seekers coming from these countries. In 2019 the trump administration announced plans to operantly divert hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras because he believes the countries are not doing enough to prevent illegal migrants into the US. El Salvador and Honduras both have the highest and second-highest homicide rates of countries in the world according to numbers from the UN. The decision, however, could prove to be counterproductive. Many asylum seekers leave those countries due to violence and lack of economic opportunity. By cutting off funds to these countries it would only drive more people to try to come to the US. These aids are meant to improve their living conditions and reduce crime, which is the main contributing factor in asylum seekers coming to the United States. For many Central Americans the aids can be difference between eating and not eating. Guatemala is entering its sixth straight year of drought, which has left thousands of people food insecure in a country with the highest child malnutrition. The Trump administration’s decision to reduce aids to these countries would essentially be shooting themselves in the foot and introduce more illegal immigrants trying to come to the United States instead of reducing it.
The Trump administration has completely shut down of the United-States-Mexico border under the cover of the Covid-19 public health emergency. On March 2020 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced a new policy to deny all entry into the US of people from certain countries under pretext of public health. This new policy will target border crossers immediately without court hearing despite if they are legally trying to enter the US to seek asylum. The United States remains obligated under national law it has ratified to protect refugees seeking asylum, making this practice unlawful under both US and international laws. "The administration is pushing to use the coronavirus pandemic to accomplish some of the tough immigration restrictions that hardliners have struggled to put into practice since Trump took office, including blocking entry to asylum seekers, according to US officials briefed on the plans" according to an article by the Guardian.
Yet despite the government suspending immigration into the country, it is not willing to suspend individuals who are dangerously locked up in detention centers, which as a result of unsanitary conditions is a hotbed for diseases. In the past detainees at the dentation centers have suffered outbarks of measles and received dangerously substandard medical care. According to "Systematic Indifference: Dangerous and Substandard Medical Care in Immigration Detention" a 103-page report published by the Human Rights Watch, reveals subpar living conditions of detention centers for immigrants.
Since coming into office, the Trump administration has made many changes that negatively impact asylum seekers despite it being their international right. These changes deny asylum seekers the opportunity to escape the violence in their own country. My parents were very lucky that they had the opportunity to leave Vietnam and come to the United States. Even though I was too young to remember life in Vietnam, my parents often time tell me stories about the atrocities taking place there. The reality is that many people see these kinds of things happening and the policy that the Trump administration has placed make it extremely hard for these individuals to escape in pursuit of a better life.
Works Cited
“US: Mexican Asylum Seekers Ordered to Wait.” Human Rights Watch, 13 June 2020.
Fleming, P.J., Lopez, W., Mesa, H. et al. A qualitative study on the impact of the 2016 US election on the health of immigrant families in Southeast Michigan. BMC Public Health 19, 947 (2019).
Aja, Alan A. and Alejandra Marchevsky. 2017. “How Immigrants Became Criminals.” Boston Review, March 17, 2017.
Banulescu-Gogdau, Natalia. 2018. “When Facts Don’t Matter: How to Communicate More Effectively About Immigration’s Costs and Benefits.” Migration Policy Institute Research Report, November 2018.