America’s Responsibility
“Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. ” (Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail (1))
Last week I read two articles, Michelle Brané’s “Women fleeing domestic violence deserve asylum” (2), and Sandra Parks’s “Jeff Sessions Slams the Door on Immigrants Desperate to Escape Domestic Violence” (3). These two articles were concerned with Jeff Sessions’ decision to deny victims of domestic or gang violence the right to seek for asylum. This has made me ponder the ethical and moral struggles of selecting which refugees we should allow into America, and the responsibility of a nation that has been so involved in international conflicts.
The reason why Jeff Sessions has decided that victims of domestic or gang violence do not qualify for asylum is because these incidents are caused by private actions instead of government persecution. According to Political Asylum USA, one must have a ‘reasonable fear of future persecution on account of race, religion, national origin, political opinion, or member in a social group to qualify for asylum. The asylum applicant must show that the persecution is done either by the country’s government or by people who the government cannot or will not control.’ (4) In this regard, Sessions believes that United States of America has no responsibility in taking these asylum seekers, because these incidents cannot be controlled by the government.
Brané argues otherwise. She believes that these perpetrators are often protected by the government, and their actions go unpunished. Women and children are often left helpless as the society that they come from has a culture that accepts these violent acts that violate the United Nations’ definition of human rights. In other words, these asylum seekers should qualify for refugee status because these acts are committed by people who the government ‘will not control’, according to the definition mentioned previously.
Park, on the other hand, believes that the Trump administration’s emphasis on arresting undocumented immigrants has made it harder for these immigrants to seek official asylum, because they fear that the government will arrest them before assessing their reasonings for entering the United States. This has created a “culture of fear” in victims of domestic violence that hinders the advancement of women's rights.
Jeff Sessions ruling that these women do not have a chance to present their case in front of immigration judges is utterly unjust. In the case of the El Salvadoran woman which sparked this whole debate, her husband, a police officer, pulled a gun on their daughter. This was clearly an act by a higher power that the El Salvadoran woman has no control over; if she reported the incident, the corrupt police system of El Salvador would protect her husband over herself. In the highly dense population of El Salvador, there was nowhere to run to (5). The only escape is to leave the country entirely. According to the United States Asylum law, if a person demonstrates “credible fear” of returning to his or her home country, he or she cannot be deported back to the country until the application has been processed (6). In this case, every asylum seeker who has experienced domestic violence should at the very least, be judged by an immigration officer or judge before being sent back to the country he or she came from. Furthermore, in these Latin American countries, women are often victims of domestic abuse due to the strong machista culture present in society, where men dominate the social dynamics within a family (7). Women victims of domestic violence as a social group are often looked over and are left defenseless when they suffer from these crimes. Even under the current laws, there is a reasonable argument for these women gaining asylum in the United States.
Why should America be the country to take these refugees then? Wouldn’t these refugees assimilate better in Spanish speaking countries instead? Historical examples have shown otherwise. The strong rivalries between Latin American countries often lead to xenophobia, and immigrants from other countries are looked down upon and have no social status (8). Recently, Mexico, one of the richer Latin American countries and a popular destination for refugees from other Latin American countries, has tightened border control (9) of people coming from the South. In reality, these people are subject to even more danger in these Spanish speaking countries, such as hunger, abuse, and even rape (10)(11). Often, United States of America is the only safe destination. Sending these immigrants back home is the equivalent of digging a grave for them.
These undocumented immigrants deserve a second chance. One may argue that if these undocumented immigrants have a legitimate reasoning for entering the States, they should have declared for asylum in the first place, and go through the process of application instead of going into hiding hoping not to get caught. They should not have the liberty to stay in America while others, who may have had suffered more, have to go through the entire asylum process with the risk of getting denied. However, it is important to understand the position of a victim of domestic violence. Knowing the current law of the United States, the victim would not be able to gain asylum in the States, while going back to the country would mean suffering and even death. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, the victim is forced to go into hiding in the States which is the only option for safety. The current laws simply do not correctly assess the needs of a refugee. By refusing to let these domestic violence victims in the country, America is indirectly encouraging these horrible violations of human rights. Even after 50 years, Martin Luther King Jr’s movement still apply to immigration laws: “Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.” (1)
Edited by Naomi Santiago
https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Letter_Birmingham_Jail.pdf (1)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2018/06/13/women-fleeing-domestic-violence-deserve-asylum/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.d7e6667185c9 (2)
https://www.politicalasylumusa.com/application-for-asylum/ (4)
https://www.uscis.gov/faq-page/credible-fear-faq#t12831n40176 (6)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-33939470 (7)
https://www.theworldweekly.com/reader/view/3764/racist-latin-america (8)
https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/border-trilogy-part-3-what-remains (12)
