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Under this category in my Website, I am including people who
are fleeing from persecution and oppression, asylees, refugees and others that may fit in
here. A refugee is a person who is entering legally from outside the United States, and is
determined to have met certain requirements. An Asylee is a person already in
the United States is seeking some type of protection because of fear of persecution,
threat to bodily harm, such as beatings, torture, confinement, economic persecution,
i.e., can't make a living or can't feed themselves, liberty, housing or home invasion,
attempted rape or rape, murder. Discrimination and prosecution are not
bases for asylum.
Asylum really is a subject that relates to humanitarian treatment of
people. It is a defense in a deportation/removal hearing and if proven, allows for
an alien to remain in the United States and usually, after one year, to become a Legal
Permanent Resident (LPR). An LPR is what we normally call a permanent resident, if
you haven't heard the term before.
An Asylee is an alien who meets the definition of a refugee but who is
physically present in the United States, or at least at a land border or point of entry of
the United States, at the time he or she is seeking refuge in this country.
A
definition for asylum, or for one who claims asylum, is an alien who has a fear of
persecution and the fear must be "well founded" and the persecution feared must
be "on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social
group or political opinion, and the alien must be unwilling to return to his country
of nationality or the country in which he last habitually resided because of
persecution or his well founded fear
of persecution.
HISTORY
OF ASYLUM AND
TIES TO INTERNATIONAL
LAW
Asylum law in the United
States is an offshoot of International Law. The U.S. is one of the countries in the
United Nations that has become a party to an agreement known as the 1951 United
Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and also the 1968 United Nations
Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees. I do not believe that the U.S. has
agreed to the entire United Nations' position, but the U.S. has agreed to a large part of
it. Civilized countries will not tolerate oppression to people and we will open our
doors in the United States to people who have been persecuted.
Under
the law of the United States, the courts are directed to construe legislation in the
United States in a way that is consistent with international obligations.
Weinberger
v. Rossi, 456 U.S. 25, 32 (1982); Murray v. The Charming Betsy, 6 U.S. (2
Cranch) 64, 118 (1804).
The United States follows the United Nations Convention, but we
focus on the type of prejudice or to what the harm is directed.
There are five categories of persecution:
(1)
Race (2) Religion (3)
Nationality (4) Member of a particular social
group (5)
Political opinion
VERY
IMPORTANT:
YOU MUST FILE YOUR ASYLUM CLAIM WITHIN ONE (1)
YEAR OF
YOUR ENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES
Examples:
1.
If you are a black person and are persecuted because you
are black and your freedom is threatened, then you may qualify for asylum in the
United States. When you made entry into the United States, you can
file an asylum claim, eventually get a green card, and become a Legal
Permanent Resident. This could eventually lead to American
citizenship.
2,
In the same manner, if your life or freedom is threatened because of
your religion, i.e., Islamic, Christian, Jewish and Buddhist, to name but a few, you may
qualify for asylum. If you are a member of a particular social group who is
persecuted such as a homosexual, you may qualify for asylum.
Criminal Problems
consider the Convention against Torture
Click
here to view new Asylum presentation.
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