“In Liberty’s Shadow”

I was brought there in handcuffs and shackled to another person. ... At the facility they took away my clothes and gave me an orange prison uniform. I was treated like a criminal. I was kept in a room with 12 other women for 23 hours a day. There was no privacy. We were only taken out of the room for one hour a day; the outdoor recreation area was really like a cage—an internal courtyard with a fence for a roof. ... Every day, guards woke us up at 6 am and told us to stand in a line to be counted. They searched us several times a week.

This young woman is not narrating what happened to her after she had been arrested for a crime. Instead, as reported by Human Rights First in its 2004 Report, In Liberty’s Shadow, she tells the story of what followed after she landed in the United States and requested asylum from political persecution in her country.

The U.S. has a long history of providing a safe haven for victims of political and religious persecution. In 1996, however, a new law imposed new procedures including a fast-track deportation proceeding at borders and airports called “expedited removal.” Under this process, those who request asylum at the border must be detained while they wait for their claims to be processed. Asylum seekers are eligible for “parole” if they can prove a “credible fear” of persecution, as well as their own identity, family or community ties in the U.S., and that they pose no danger to the community.

While proper procedures and safeguards seem to be in place in theory, a comprehensive report of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom released in February 2005 found serious and systematic flaws in their implementation. Whether one is granted parole seems to depend not on reasonable criteria, but on the port of entry and available bed space. For example, in the San Antonio, Texas district, 94% of asylum applicants are released, as compared with the 3.8% released in the Newark, New Jersey district.

As a result of such arbitrary application of procedures, even religious leaders with support of local U.S. communities have been detained for months and in some cases years in jails and jail-like facilities. A 13-year old Iraqi girl spent more than five months in detention before being released to her older brother, a legal U.S. resident.

This practice is in stark contrast with the recommendation of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, to insure that refugee and asylum seekers are not treated as criminals. While current legislative agendas do not seem to indicate much positive change, recent human rights and religious freedom reports have done much to raise public awareness and offer concrete solutions.

In Liberty’s Shadow (2004) is available online. Read the Report on Asylum Seekers in Expedited Removal (2005).