Migrant surge from Central America
From McClatchy
The title of the article is Migrant surge poses challenge for U.S.: Who’s a refugee, who isn’t? It is difficult for people in the US to believe that Central Americans are fleeing because there are few economic opportunities in their home countries, to reunify with family members already living in the US, and because of targeted violence towards them in their communities which their governments are either perpetrating or unable to prevent. As long as number three is correct, it doesn't really matter the answers to points number one and two.
However, it is difficult to prove that you have fled your home and should be considered a refugee. Applicants for asylum do not always know their rights. They often don't have access to counsel. There are language, trust, institutional, and power barriers.
Most applicants have personal stories of violence perpetrated against them or their families members. They are horrific. However, they frequently do not have medical reports or police reports characterizing the violence they suffered in their home communities. There are no police reports because they can't trust the police, some of whom are there to protect criminals. That relationship is then used to explain why they should be granted asylum - the state is unwilling or unable to protect them.
I can and have answered many of these questions from a national-level perspective in El Salvador to support some asylum claims - general level of violence, some specifics on the gang crisis, the lack of response by the state. It is not always enough to discuss national level characteristics however. Some courts want municipal-level knowledge that we can't always provide.
(See also Should the US deport unaccompanied minors?, U.S. Can’t Solve Central America’s Problems With Money Alone, and Supporting Migrants Through the Asylum Process).
Both family apprehensions and detentions of unaccompanied children have shown dramatic increases over last year’s totals – with family detentions nearly doubling and the number children traveling without parents increasing 52 percent.
Those increases raise serious questions about the Obama administration’s strategy to curb the flow through a combination of immigration enforcement and humanitarian assistance.
“It has been a failure, because people are still coming,” said Amy Fischer, the policy director for the Texas-based Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services.Anyone who thought that US programs announced since mid-2014 would have much of an effect two years later is being a little delusional. It was going to take years for the US to ramp up support to the region. Most of the $750 million has not been delivered. And, even when it is delivered, it is going to take years for the programs to be implemented and demonstrate some results.
The title of the article is Migrant surge poses challenge for U.S.: Who’s a refugee, who isn’t? It is difficult for people in the US to believe that Central Americans are fleeing because there are few economic opportunities in their home countries, to reunify with family members already living in the US, and because of targeted violence towards them in their communities which their governments are either perpetrating or unable to prevent. As long as number three is correct, it doesn't really matter the answers to points number one and two.
However, it is difficult to prove that you have fled your home and should be considered a refugee. Applicants for asylum do not always know their rights. They often don't have access to counsel. There are language, trust, institutional, and power barriers.
Most applicants have personal stories of violence perpetrated against them or their families members. They are horrific. However, they frequently do not have medical reports or police reports characterizing the violence they suffered in their home communities. There are no police reports because they can't trust the police, some of whom are there to protect criminals. That relationship is then used to explain why they should be granted asylum - the state is unwilling or unable to protect them.
I can and have answered many of these questions from a national-level perspective in El Salvador to support some asylum claims - general level of violence, some specifics on the gang crisis, the lack of response by the state. It is not always enough to discuss national level characteristics however. Some courts want municipal-level knowledge that we can't always provide.
(See also Should the US deport unaccompanied minors?, U.S. Can’t Solve Central America’s Problems With Money Alone, and Supporting Migrants Through the Asylum Process).
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