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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 12:33 am
Time: 12:33 am
Results for asylum, right of (u.s.)
1 results foundAuthor: Acer, Eleanor Title: U.S. Detention of Asylum Seekers Seeking Protection, Finding Prison Summary: In March 2003, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) took over responsibility for asylum and immigration matters when the former INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) was abolished. With this transfer, DHS was entrusted with the duty to ensure that the United States lives up to its commitments to those who seek asylum from persecution. These commitments stem from both U.S. law and international treaties with which the United States has pledged to abide. Yet, those who seek asylum—a form of protection extended to victims of political, religious and other forms of persecution—have been swept up in a wave of increased immigration detention, which has left many asylum seekers in jails and jail-like facilities for months or even years. Six years after DHS and its interior immigration enforcement component, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (known as “ICE”) took over responsibility for immigration detention, the U.S. system for detaining asylum seekers is more flawed than ever. As detailed in this report, thousands of asylum seekers have been detained during these years. In 2007 alone, more than 10,000 asylum seekers were newly detained in the United States. They are held in facilities that are actual jails or are operated like jails. They are often brought in handcuffs and sometimes shackles to these facilities, where they wear prison uniforms, are guarded by officers in prison attire, visit with family and friends only through glass barriers, and have essentially no freedom of movement within the facilities. The cost of detaining these asylum seekers over the past six years has exceeded $300 million. During that time, ICE parole policies have become more restrictive, and parole rates for asylum seekers dropped from 41.3 percent in 2004 to 4.2 percent in 2007. ICE has not provided Congressionally-mandated statistics—detailing the number of asylum seekers detained, the length of their detention, and the rates of their release—in a timely or complete manner. The U.S. detention system for asylum seekers, which lacks crucial safeguards, is inconsistent with international refugee protection and human rights standards. DHS and ICE have increased their use of prison-like facilities by at least 62 percent—with six new megafacilities added in just the last five years. Some of these facilities are located far from legal representation and the immigration courts. More than a third of detained asylum seekers are not represented by legal counsel, even though asylum seekers are much more likely to be granted asylum in immigration court when they are represented. At these remote facilities, detained asylum seekers often see U.S. immigration judges and asylum officers only on television sets, with immigration court asylum hearings and asylum office “credible fear” interviews (which determine whether an individual will even be allowed to apply for asylum or will instead be summarily deported) increasingly conducted by video. In fact, more than 60 percent of credible fear interviews were conducted by video in 2007. A recent study demonstrated that asylum seekers who have their immigration court asylum hearings conducted by video are about half as likely to be granted asylum. Through our pro bono representation work, and in conducting research for this report, we have learned of many refugees who were jailed for many months—and some for years—in these prison-like facilities before being granted asylum in this country. Many asylum seekers could have been released from detention while their cases were pending, either on parole or through an immigration court custody hearing. Providing asylum seekers with access to fair release procedures does not undermine security. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security’s regulations and guidelines on parole expressly prohibit the release of an individual who presents a risk to the community or a flight or security risk. The case law governing immigration court custody hearings also requires that the individual establish that he or she does not present a danger to others, a threat to national security, or a flight risk. In some cases, asylum seekers could have been released, at significant savings, to a supervised release program. In fact, while detention costs $95 each day on average, alternatives to detention cost $10 to $14 for each person each day. Individuals who have been released through these programs have continued to appear for their immigration court hearings at high rates—ranging from 93 to 99 percent. According to ICE, participants in the intensive supervision appearance program (ISAP) demonstrated a 91 percent compliance with removal orders as well. Details: New York: Human Rights First, 2009. 105p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 29, 2012 at: http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/pdf/090429-RP-hrf-asylum-detention-report.pdf Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/pdf/090429-RP-hrf-asylum-detention-report.pdf Shelf Number: 124761 Keywords: Asylum, Right of (U.S.)Immigrant DetentionImmigrantsPolitical Refugees |