How asylum works in the United States and why there's a court backlogExBulletin

Yajara Pealoza (left) and Marian Araujo pose with their children while awaiting transport to the Casa Alitas shelter in Tucson, Arizona, on March 26. Ash Ponders for NPR .

switch caption Ash reflects for NPR

Yajara Pealoza (left) and Marian Araujo pose with their children while awaiting transport to the Casa Alitas shelter in Tucson, Arizona, on March 26.

Ash reflects for NPR

Illegal immigration is at the heart of the debate over the border between the United States and Mexico.

Yet this decades-old problem is complicated by the fact that hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers say, in a process authorized under U.S. law, that they fear returning to their home countries. .

This spring, near the border, NPR met a recent arrival who insisted his entry was legal. She was at Casa Alitas, a cavernous retreat in Tucson, Arizona.

Yajara Pealoza told us she arrived in the United States from Venezuela on Christmas Day last year.

“It was baby Jesus’ gift,” she said.

Neither she nor her traveling companions had come on a visa, but Pealoza had been granted a court date in 2026 to seek asylum. In the meantime, she said, she would try to find a job to support herself financially as soon as she receives a federal work permit to do so.

“We are doing everything to be here legally, in the meantime,” Pealoza said.

What describes the legal status of people like Pealoza?

» NPR asked Muzaffar Chishti of the Migration Policy Institute. Our conversation follows.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Interview Highlights

Steve Inskeep: She's someone most Americans would consider an “illegal immigrant” since she arrived here without a visa. She said: “I am here legally. I follow the legal procedure. » So let's start there. Does a person in this situation have legal status?

Muzaffar Chishti: The quick answer is no. What she does, like most people who arrive at the border, is they arrive without authorization to enter the United States. It certainly presents itself at an entry point, which makes things different from entry points. But she has an appointment. During the meeting, she essentially told a Customs and Border Protection official, “I'm afraid to go back to my country.” So she's placed in what we call removal proceedings and she's given a date with a notice to appear at her removal proceedings.

Meanwhile, she has no real status, but she can't be deported because she shows up for an appointment to contest her re-removability. At this hearing, he will be asked: “Do you have any appeal against the eviction?” she'll say, “Yes, I'm asking for asylum,” and that's when asylum comes into play.

Inskeep: Was the United States obligated to let her in at the port of entry when she showed up without a visa?

Chishti: Yes. Anyone on American soil who expresses fear of returning to their country based on the five protected classifications of the UN protocol, we have an obligation to let them in to pursue their asylum application.

[The five protected classes are race, religion, nationality, political opinion and membership in a particular social group.]

Inskeep: I understand that people from different countries may claim different types of status when they arrive in the United States. Does this person get anything special from being from Venezuela?

Chishti: Well, she would have had a much better status if she had applied from abroad. Four countries, including Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, benefited last year from President Biden, who granted them unusually special treatment, allowing nationals of these countries to fly directly to the United States, under a provision called parole.

Parole is a status. A person who arrives on parole has legal status and is also authorized to work. She could have done that, [but] for this you need an American sponsor who will support you during your stay. She didn't do that, so she doesn't fit into that category. She therefore has no choice but to request asylum.

Inskeep: Is she able to work legally during the two years she will wait for a hearing in the United States?

Chishti: According to the law, once you apply for asylum, within six months you gain the right to work.

Inskeep: Alejandro Mayorkas, the Secretary of Homeland Security, was impeached by House Republicans earlier this year for allegedly abusing the power of parole by actively letting people into the United States. What is the power of parole?

Chishti: The power of parole is as old as at least World War II, when we let in most of the refugees fleeing Europe into the United States, mostly Jews and a few Pentecostals. And [the] The idea is that in the absence of any other provision of law that would allow someone to enter as if you don't have a student visa, you don't have a work visa, you don't do not have a family visa but the administration believes it is in the best interest of the United States to let this person in, parole authority is an important authority granted to the administration. It is used for humanitarian purposes or in urgent circumstances.

It is true that this administration has used the parole power more extensively than any other administration, and that is in question. And we'll see how the courts rule on this.

Inskeep: Has it become very easy to get years in the United States just by showing up one way or another and saying, “I want asylum?” »

Chishti: Well, that's true. This is sort of why a lot of people think the border crisis is really an asylum crisis. Simply invoking the word “asylum” allows you to enter the United States. Then you are sent for a hearing, which may [not take place for] years. And then, at the end of that hearing, even if you're not granted asylum, the chances of being deported are very low. All of these factors have become pull factors. Therefore, it is essential to master the processing and evaluation of asylum applications, which means efficient and rapid decisions, to send the message that just because you want to invoke the word “asylum” does not mean you will stay in the United States for years. END.

Inskeep: You say there is a legal procedure. We can follow him. It might even probably work. But the number of people arriving overwhelmed him.

Chishti: That’s true. The only thing I would add is that we have the rules, regulations, resources and personnel to meet the 2008 border challenge.

It was a time when the challenge at the border was single Mexican men trying to make their way into the United States. None of the definition is true today. More and more people are non-Mexicans, more and more people are family units, and almost all of them are not sneaking in but asking for asylum. This fundamentally changes the nature of the challenge.

But we don't have the resources, laws or regulations to make this happen. And I think one of the ways to reduce the backlog is to not refer new cases to immigration judges. It's an overwhelmed system. Sending more files to an already backlogged system is the definition of insanity. We believe that all new asylum cases should be sent to asylum officers who are civil servants trained in the country's conditions, and that they can complete a case in months rather than years. Only then can we truly improve the processing of asylum applications.

Inskeep: Muzaffar Chishti, thank you very much.

Chishti: Thank you very much for talking to me.

The audio version of this story was produced by Lilly Quiroz. The digital version was edited by Obed Manuel.

Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://www.npr.org/2024/05/08/1249629647/immigration-border-asylum-parole-explained The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

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