Missionaries of the Sacred

Catholic Social Teaching tells us that “those who flee wars and persecution should be protected by the global community” (Strangers No Longer, no. 37). The United States has traditionally been a place of refuge for people fleeing their country  due to persecution. A report released in April 2009 by Human Rights First documents a disturbing trend in how asylum seekers in the United States are treated, showing that more are being detained in remote and prison-like facilities.

• Between 2003 and 2009, there was a 62% increase in the use of prison or prison-like facilities. Over 48,000 asylum seekers in the United States were detained in U.S. jails and immigration detention centers.
• Asylum seekers are often handcuffed and sometimes shackled while transported. They are required to wear prison-like uniforms, even when they appear in front of a judge.
• The report found improper medical care during detention, due to staff shortages as well as failure to use interpreters.
• Detention costs an average of $95 per day, while alternatives to detention cost $10-$14.

Get involved! Read the report now. Then write to President Obama,  your representative in the House of Representatives and to your Senators and tell them that we need to fix our system. You can also sign the petition to the Department of Homeland Security.

Asylum Bids & Definition of Terrorism

While the US government must take precautions to avoid granting legal status to terrorists, recent laws such as the Patriot Act are causing deserving applications to be denied. Examples:

• Louis, from Burundi, has been detained in a Virginia jail for 17 months because the judge who said that Louis is eligible for asylum won’t grant asylum. Why? Because in 2007, Louis was forced at gunpoint to give Burundi rebels money (US $4), which counts as material support for a terrorist group.
• An Iraqi Kurd granted asylum in 2004 is still waiting for a green card because his relatives supported the U.S. backed Kurdish Democratic Party that tried to overthrow Saddam Hussein. Without a green card, he is unable to bring his elderly parents, who are at risk of being killed because he worked for 3 years in the US military, to the United States.

Read: U.S. allies losing asylum bids over definition of ‘terrorist’