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Report from the Border: JSS Legal Services Travels to Help Asylum Seekers

01/13/2020 12:09:46 PM

Jan13

Carrie Fox-Kline, the immigration legal services director at Jewish Social Services (JSS), recently gave a talk for members of the Jewish community concerned about ongoing events at America’s southern border. In September, Carrie traveled to El Paso, Texas, to ensure that asylum seekers received much-needed legal representation. On Wednesday, December 11, she spoke at a program organized by Jewish Congregations for Social Justice and JSS.

Carrie explained that asylum seekers are people who have fled persecution in their home country and are seeking safe haven in a different country, but who have not yet received any legal recognition or status. A right to seek asylum was created by international agreement following the Holocaust, after many countries had turned away asylum seekers. After the war, 146 countries joined a treaty agreeing to allow asylum claims. The United States created a more formal process after the influx of applications in the wake of the Vietnam war.

Historically, asylum seekers have been able to apply for asylum at a port of entry into the United States, where they would undergo a “credible fear” interview by immigration personnel. If their story was found credible, they would be scheduled for a hearing in front of an immigration court judge to argue that they should be allowed to remain in the United States. Although some people were detained pending this hearing, many were able to post bond and remain free in the United States while awaiting their hearing.

In early 2018, the US government began to limit the number of asylum seekers it would let into the United States, regardless of the danger alleged. Since that time, asylum seekers have been waiting in the border cities of Mexico for three months or longer to have their “credible fear” interviews. They are required to return to Mexico between hearings, living in tent cities with no way to earn a living, unable to safely go back to the homes they fled.

Carrie said the current system causes confusion and chaos. Most asylum seekers do not have legal representation, and the number of petitions granted is very low. Even when asylum seekers have representation, hearings are so often rescheduled that it’s hard for volunteer lawyers and accredited representatives like Carrie to be there. Even with clear allegations of domestic violence, police persecution, or LGBTQ harassment, asylum seekers are sent back to wait until their cases are called a year from now. There is an estimated backlog of 1 million cases pending in the immigration courts.

HIAS is seeking volunteers to help at the border, particularly lawyers and people with Spanish-language skills. Attorneys do not need immigration experience. Delegations are currently being formed for February and March.

  • February 9–14, 2020: HIAS de Mexico (El Paso, Texas/Ciudad Juarez, Mexico)
  • February 24–28, 2020: JFS San Diego (San Diego, California)
  • March 22–28, 2020: HIAS de Mexico (El Paso, Texas/Ciudad Juarez, Mexico)

For more information, email Rachel Zoghlin. You can also see local volunteer opportunities here, including refugee resettlement through Open Doors for Refugees and volunteer driving to immigration hearings through Dane Sanctuary Coalition.

For more information about the work that HIAS is doing at the border, see here. 

For more information about the JSS refugee program, contact Rabbi Renee Bauer.

April 24, 2024 16 Nisan 5784