Photo by Andrew Schultz on Unsplash Is the Asylum Bar Too High?
Ali, Undergraduate Student (UM-Dearborn) Over the past decade there has been an alliance forming between immigration and criminal law. However, this binding of alliances suggests that the criminalization of immigration is becoming a prevalent practice now more than ever. Immigration law cannot exist without interfering with criminal law because immigrants are required to comply with the law or they risk deportation. This basically means that any crime committed by an immigrant risks their immigration status of being jeopardized as well. The issue I would like to bring to light here is the fact that immigrants are pushed into a vulnerable position of facing deportation. This is very important and needs to be addressed because innocent immigrants who adhere to the law could still be criminalized by government officials and law enforcement. To give a perspective of how widespread this problem is, “Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested about 143,000 aliens and removed more than 167,000 in 2019” (Appel & Morse 2020). Each year, the U.S. asylum system offers protection to thousands of persecuted individuals. However, in addition to the zero-tolerance policy that generated family separation, other measures taken by the Trump administration have narrowed the criteria for asylum eligibility. Ultimately, immigrants who have a visa, non-immigrant visa or green card, and/or are in the process of seeking citizenship through naturalization must be extremely cautious as to not step out of line with the criminal justice system. One immediate and effective solution to this problem would be to start with the Department of Homeland Security. The DHS could equip the asylum system with the means to do its work effectively by changing how the asylum processing takes place at the U.S/Mexico border. Asylum officers could conduct a screening interview to determine if an applicant has a “significant possibility” of establishing eligibility for asylum. Those who pass the interview shall then be allowed to enter into the United States where they can apply for asylum before an immigration judge. This would lessen the chances of innocent immigrants risking their status by making some kind of mistake with the criminal justice system. Immigrants would be more successful in establishing their desired status in the U.S. if they properly follow the process of the criteria given by the asylum system. As far as a long term solution goes, the U.S. should help Central America by fostering a more stable economic system. As Meissner and Pierce (2019) summarize, “Until Central Americans can experience political stability and citizen security in their home countries, political turmoil, gang violence, corruption, increased climate, agricultural challenges, and weak economies will drive people to seek better life prospects. Migration is one of the answers to which they will invariably turn.” These solutions are definitely easier said than done. But in order to help immigrants from wounding up in a vulnerable position of being deported there must be a concrete foundation that is willing to protect them and hear them out before denying them and sending them on their way. References: 1. Doris Meissner, Sarah Pierce. 2019. “Policy Solutions to Address Crisis at Border Exist, But Require Will and Staying Power to Execute.” Migrationpolicy.org. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/news/policy-solutions-address-crisis-border-exist-require-will-staying-power 2. Morse, Appel. 2020. “What Is Crimmigration?” Appel & Morse. https://www.appelmorse.com/blog/2020/june/what-is-crimmigration-/
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