PROFESSOR LINDSAY HARRIS: SEEKING ASYLUM IN THE US IS A PROTECTED LEGAL RIGHT! — SO WHY ARE TRUMP, SESSIONS, &. CO. PERVERTING THE LEGAL SYSTEM TO ABUSE CHILDREN, TORTURE WOMEN, & KILL ASYLUM SEEKERS WITHOUT A FAIR CHANCE TO PLEAD THEIR CASES?— Our Immoral & Lawless Leaders Are The Biggest Threat To The Survival Of Our Republic!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/seeking-asylum-isnt-a-crime-why-do-trump-and-sessions-act-like-it-is/2018/06/29/dc4cf136-7a7c-11e8-93cc-6d3beccdd7a3_story.html

The immigration system, if you believe President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, is rife with fraud and abuse. And while Trump’s administration is hostile to all immigrants, it’s people seeking asylum whom he and his advisers most scorn. Sessions says “dirty immigration lawyers ” push their clients to make “fake claims” to trigger court proceedings that might allow them to stay in the United States. He seems to see the entire concept of asylum as a “loophole.”

Trump declared last weekend on Twitter that we should send migrants out of the country “with no Judges or Court Cases.” He says immigration laws are a “joke” and that it’s “ridiculous ” that people who appear at the border seeking asylum can’t immediately be sent back to where they came from.

In reality, immigrants who seek asylum are not criminals, even though they are now being charged as such. Their lawyers are simply giving them basic information. And the “zero tolerance” policy that led the administration for a time to separate children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border shows how radically Trump wants to change laws and practices, developed over decades, to provide a haven for people fleeing persecution and weed out undeserving claims. As it happens, most of those seeking admission at our southern border are not economic migrants seeking a better life but instead asylum seekers fleeing for their lives.

Sessions is going to extraordinary lengths to break the system that distinguishes between asylum claims with merit and ones that should be denied. He has categorically declared that some people who used to be eligible for asylum, such as survivors of domestic abuse or gang violence, no longer are.

As an asylum lawyer over the past decade, I have represented women fleeing domestic violence, forced marriage, rape, genital cutting and more. I have represented girls forced into relationships with gang members and boys fleeing recruitment into gangs at gunpoint. I have represented lesbian, gay and transgender individuals from all over the world seeking protection from persecution by their communities or governments. A couple of months ago, my immigration clinic at the University of the District of Columbia School of Law represented a Honduran woman whose partner raped her twice daily, beat her while pregnant and bashed her head against a wall. She tried to escape within Honduras and even to El Salvador seven times, but each time, her partner found her and threatened her life. Her calls to the police were ignored. Ultimately, she fled to save her life, and an immigration judge granted her protection in April before Sessions changed the law. Thousands more in her situation may be categorically denied protection.

Seeking asylum in the United States has never been easy, by design. But under Trump, it’s become arbitrarily harder — and impossible for some. Even before the 2016 election, border officials claiming allegiance to Trump began turning back asylum seekers in greater numbers. I recall clients who said a border official told them: “There is no asylum. Trump is going to be president, and you’ll all be sent home.” Since his inauguration, problems in the asylum system have only increased.

The first challenge for asylum seekers is just being able to apply. They must either be at the border or within the United States to claim protection — they cannot seek asylum from outside. Some enter the country with a tourist, study or work visa, but these are difficult to obtain. Others approach the U.S. border and ask for protection, or cross the border without permission and are detained by immigration officials before filing their asylum applications.

Under international law and a Clinton-era U.S. law known as “expedited removal,” officials must screen all individuals they encounter around the border for potential asylum claims. If someone indicates she is afraid to return to her home country, border officials must refer her to an asylum officer for a “credible fear” interview to decide whether she is eligible for asylum. Legally, the Border Patrol simply makes a referral for the interview; however, border agents without appropriate training are increasingly taking the law into their own hands. In early 2017, for example, Human Rights First documented 125 cases of Border Patrol agents unlawfully turning back asylum seekers. Lately, border officers tell asylum seekers to “come back later,” turning away one family nine times. This violates our legal obligation under Article 33 of the Refugee Convention and under our own Refugee Act not to return an asylum seeker to a place where she faces a threat to her life or freedom.

But asylum standards are becoming more restrictive. In June, Sessions reversed a grant of asylum for a Salvadoran woman fleeing domestic violence, single-handedly undoing two decades of progress for gender-based asylum claims. He also changed the standard for asylum to require not only that the government in a migrant’s home country is unwilling or unable to protect the asylum seeker from harm, but also that the government is actively condoning persecution by nonstate actors — a higher bar for applicants to meet. Asylum claims should be adjudicated on a case-by-case basis, but Sessions’s order states that generally, those fleeing domestic violence or gang violence will not pass a credible-fear interview. The Justice Department has already circulated preliminary guidance to asylum officers to use the decision in future cases.

Trump’s family separation policy led to widespread mobilization of new advocates and voices expressing outrage and calling for reform. But this is no time to look away. Asylum claims must be decided on their individual merits, not with technicalities or categorical bars. Lives are at stake.

 

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  • The Government violates asylum seekers’ rights at ports of entry.
  • Then the Government “criminalizes” asylum seekers who cross the border seeking to exercise their legal rights.
  • Courts and prosecutors are tied up on abusive, wasteful, racially motivated misdemeanor prosecutions of asylum seekers.
  • Real criminals like drug traffickers therefore go unprosecuted because the Government is too busy persecuting asylum seekers.
  • The Government manipulates asylum laws and leans on its “captive” Immigration Courts to deny asylum seekers their legal rights.
  • Meanwhile, the real culprits who are responsible for these racist-inspired attacks on our legal system and the human dignity of asylum applicants not only go unpunished but are the leaders of our Government.
  • Had enough of our Government’s disgraceful conduct? Join the New Due Process Army to fight for the rights of vulnerable asylum seekers. Harm to the least among us is harm to all!

PWS

07-02-18

 

🦃🦃🦃 CELEBRATE THANKSGIVING WITH THE ASYLUM SEEKER ASSISTANCE PROJECT (“ASAP”) & THEIR FIRST ANNUAL THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION!

Join NLG and ASAP’s First Annual Thanksgiving Celebration!

by No Lost Generation and Asylum Seeker Assistance Project

On Saturday, November 11th, 2017, No Lost Generation will be joined by the Asylum Seeker Assistance Project (ASAP) to host a family-friendly Thanksgiving-themed dinner event at Georgetown University from 4-7PM. ASAP clients, volunteers, students, supporters, and advocates will be in attendance. Food will include both traditional American Thanksgiving items and international fare. Event program will begin at 5PM. A children’s area with crafts and games will be provided. Garage parking is available. Ticket purchase will automatically enter guests into a raffle prize drawing. Join us as we laugh too hard, eat too much, and reflect on the goodness in our lives.

Any questions or accommodation requests related to a disability should be made by November 8th to Nick Gavio at njg39@georgetown.edu. A good faith effort will be made to fulfill requests made after November 8th.

TAGS

Organizer: No Lost Generation and Asylum Seeker Assistance Project

Organizer of Join NLG and ASAP’s First Annual Thanksgiving Celebration!

The Asylum Seekers Assistance Project (ASAP) is the first and only nonprofit dedicated to serving the estimated 25,000 asylum seekers in the D.C. Metro region. An asylum seeker is a person who applies for refugee status after they enter the U.S. Our mission is to support the safety, stability, and economic security of asylum seekers and their families. Our goal is to create a scalable safety net to ensure that all persons fleeing persecution are given the chance to contribute to their new community and reach their full potential.

Established as a task of the U.S. State Department, No Lost Generation (NLG) is a university student movement that aims to support those who have been affected by the global refugee crisis. NLG is present at more than 50 colleges and universities across the United States. NLG chapters from Georgetown, George Washington, and American University will be represented at this event.

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Join NLG and ASAP’s First Annual Thanksgiving Celebration!atGeorgetown University

Healy Family Student Center 3700 O Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20057

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Thanks to my good friend Professor Lindsay Harris of the David A. Clarke School of Law at UDC for forwarding this.

I am thankful for dedicated lawyers like Lindsay and her colleagues who are inspiring and leading the resistance to this Administration’s “War on Due Process & Asylum Seekers.” As Jeff Sessions’s recent unprovoked and false attack on asylum seekers shows, never has support for the rights of asylum seekers and refugees and what they do for our country been more important. Fight the false narratives with truth and action by supporting groups like ASAP!

PWS

10-30-17

The Asylum Seeker Assistance Project (“ASAP”) — A Wonderful New DC Area Community Service Organization Making America Really Great! — Special Public Event On Saturday, April 29 — Register Here!

 

The Asylum Seeker Assistance Project

 

We thank Judge Paul W. Schmidt for giving us the opportunity to share with you an exciting new project that will provide critically important support to asylum seekers as they pursue their claims for protection in our backlogged immigration court system. We also want to invite those of you who may be local to the DC metro area to join us as we celebrate our first class of 12 asylum seekers completing our job-readiness program. But, first, a bit about the Asylum Seeker Assistance Project (ASAP) and what we do!

 

Founded in 2016, ASAP is the first and only community-based nonprofit providing comprehensive services to support the estimated 50,000 individuals pursing asylee status in the D.C. Metro region. Our mission is to provide services that support the safety, stability, and economic security of asylum seekers and their families.

 

Grounded in a strengths-based approach, ASAP combines direct client services with advocacy initiatives to develop programming that promotes community belonging and engagement. By providing access to information, services, and support, ASAP seeks to empower asylum seekers to rebuild their lives in the U.S. and to ensure that we, as a community, take full advantage of their presence and potential.

 

OUR PROGRAMS

 

Employment: ASAP’s employment program combines individualized career planning, 30-hours of job readiness training, and job placement services to address common employment barriers encountered by asylum seekers. Our goal is to equip asylum seekers with the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to secure and retain safe, legal, and purposeful employment.

 

Community: ASAP’s community program facilitates opportunities for asylum seekers to connect with each other, ASAP volunteers, and the larger community. We also maintain a list of asylees willing and able to provide support and guidance to newly arrived asylum seekers.

 

Legal: ASAP offers asylum law trainings, legal information sessions, and “Know Your Rights” workshops on demand to clients, attorneys, law students, and community partners. ASAP can also provide targeted referrals to pro bono and low bono immigration legal service providers.

 

Outreach: ASAP conducts educational awareness events co-facilitated by asylum seekers and asylees. We have given talks and presentations to audiences ranging from elementary school-aged children to adults. By engaging audiences of all ages, we work to plant the seeds of social change.

 

(Coming 2018) Social Services: ASAP works with clients to create a comprehensive assessment of their life in the U.S. in order to identify client needs, recognize strengths, and prioritize goals. ASAP works with a coalition of community partners to provide information, resources, and referrals to ensure client safety and stability.

 

Come and Learn More About Us in Person and Celebrate Asylum Seekers!

Please join us in Bethesda, MD, on Saturday, April 29th from 3-6pm to learn more about the Asylum Seeker Assistance Project (ASAP) as we celebrate our launch with the first class of ASAP clients. This is a family-friendly event with planned activity stations (including face-painting, arts and crafts, henna art, and fishing for ducks!) to entertain the little ones. Food, drinks, and lots of good company will be provided.

Please purchase tickets and sign up for the event here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/together-we-rise-a-family-friendly-celebration-tickets-32993122317

How can I contact the organizer with any questions?

We can be reached at asylumprojectdc@gmail.com, or you can engage with board member Lindsay M. Harris, Assistant Professor of Law at UDC Law teaching in the Immigration and Human Rights clinic at Lindsay.harris@udc.edu.

How can I learn more about ASAP?

Visit our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/asylumprojectdc/

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Thanks to my good friend Professor Lindsay Harris of UDC Law for providing this information. Please note the event on April 29, 2017 is open to all! Please come out to learn, meet, and support this worthy group in its important work!

PWS

04/04/17