Human Rights

# Asylees and Refugees# Human Rights

Asylee Walks 300 Miles in Support of Kurdish Rights

One hundred years ago, in the aftermath of World War I, Britain, France, Turkey, and other nations signed the Treaty of Lausanne, which divided Kurdistan between what are today Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, and blocked the national aspirations of the Kurdish people. Since then, Kurds have endured persecution, war, cultural genocide, and mass killings.

As a result of these conditions, many Kurdish people have fled their homeland, and some have received asylum in the United States. One such asylee is Kani Xulam, who is now the director of the American Kurdish Information Network.

To call attention to the 100th anniversary of the partition of Kurdistan, Mr. Xulam recently walked from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC to the United Nations in New York City. His journey covered more than 300 miles and took 24 days.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Asylum Seekers# Human Rights# National Security

The Message Behind Red State Governors’ Migrant Transports

The governors of Texas, Arizona, and Florida have been transporting asylum seekers from the border to “sanctuary” jurisdictions, such as Washington, DC, New York City, Chicago, and Martha’s Vineyard. Many of these migrants have suffered persecution in their home countries and have undergone difficult and dangerous journeys to reach the United States. The governors have enticed them to travel from the border to other parts of the country by falsely promising them jobs, work permits, and other benefits. In most cases, the receiving localities have not been forewarned about the new arrivals, and so have had difficulty coordinating a humanitarian response.

Immigration advocates have referred to these transfers as a “cynical political game,” a “publicity stunt” and a “political ploy.” Others have called it an effort to “own the libs.” While I agree that lying to vulnerable people and manipulating them is cruel and immoral, I think we on the Left are not being honest or wise when we dismiss the migrant transports as mere political theater. The issues underlying the governors’ efforts are serious and we ignore those issues at our peril.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Asylum Seekers# Human Rights# National Security

President Biden Must Protect Russian Refugees

This article is by Stanislav Stanskikh, a Visiting Scholar at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Research Fellow at UNC-Chapel Hill, and founder of The New England Institute for Country Conditions Expertise. He may be reached here: stanskikh [at] countryconditions.expert

There is an ongoing debate about whether Russians fleeing political repressions and the military draft should be granted refuge in the United States and the West, or whether protection should be refused so that these potential refugees rebel against the Kremlin instead. Opponents also draw a line between “real” refugees and those who left Russia merely to save themselves despite their prior loyalty to the regime. While the Baltic countries and Poland are turning away new arrivals, Germany and some other EU members have extended their welcome by generously granting refugee status. The President of the European Council Charles Michel favors opening the EU to fleeing Russians.

What about the United States?

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By Jason Dzubow
# Human Rights# International

Remembering Queen Elizabeth’s First Public Speech – About Refugees

The longest-serving British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, passed away last week. The Queen leaves a complicated legacy that has touched many aspects of life in Britain and the world beyond. She became queen in 1952, when women with power were few and far between. For the next seven decades, she steered the monarchy into the modern era. While she served as a spiritual and moral leader for her nation and the British Commonwealth, she rarely opined about political issues. Perhaps her effort to stay “above” politics helped her serve as a unifying force in Great Britain, where she remained widely respected, admired, and loved until her death last week at age 96.

In this post, I want to remember one small, but significant, incident from the Queen’s long life–the very first public speech she gave as a 14-year old princess on BBC’s Children’s Hour.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Human Rights# Immigration# International

Helping Ukrainians

USCIS recently announced a unique program to assist Ukrainians affected by the current war. Called Uniting for Ukraine, the program “provides a pathway for Ukrainian citizens and their immediate family members who are outside the United States to come to the United States and stay temporarily in a two-year period of parole.” The program is unique in that the Ukrainian beneficiaries must be chosen by U.S.-based sponsors. The government will vet the sponsors “to ensure that they are able to financially support the individual whom they agree to support” and then start the process of bringing the chosen Ukrainian to the United States.

Here, we’ll look at why the U.S. government created this program and how it works.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Asylum Seekers# Human Rights

Persecuted for Seeking Asylum in the United States

A new report from Human Rights Watch documents the fate of dozens of Cameroonian asylum seekers deported to their country between 2019 and 2021. According to HRW, people deported to Cameroon “faced arbitrary arrest and detention; enforced disappearances; torture, rape, and other violence; extortion; unfair prosecutions; confiscation of their national IDs; harassment; and abuses against their relatives.” In addition, many also “reported experiencing excessive force, medical neglect, and other mistreatment in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in the U.S.” Sadly, none of this is particularly surprising.

The portions of the report that I want to discuss here relate to asylum seeker confidentiality (or the lack thereof) and to the persecution of returnees because they sought asylum in the United States.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Asylees and Refugees# Human Rights# Immigration

Want to Save Democracy? End Asylum at the Southern Border

As an attorney who represents asylum seekers, I believe our country has a moral duty to help those coming to us for protection. I also believe that we as a nation benefit from our asylum system. Aside from enriching our country with patriotic, hard-working individuals, the asylum system makes manifest our highest ideals–freedom of religion and speech, democracy, equality, and women’s and minorities’ rights.

Unfortunately, those of us who support a robust humanitarian immigration system have not convinced enough of our countrymen on that point. Indeed, a poll of Trump voters found that their #2 and #3 most important issues are more secure borders and a more restrictive immigration system (the #1 issue for these voters was preservation of individual rights). Contrast that with Biden voters, who feel less strongly about reducing barriers to migration (ranking “being open to immigration” as the #27 most important issue facing our country, out of 55 issues surveyed).

There is little doubt that these views find expression in the voting booth–President Trump based his 2016 campaign on anti-immigration themes and we know how that turned out.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Asylum# Get Involved# Human Rights

Join Me for an Online Conference about the U.S. Asylum Crisis and What You Can Do About It

The Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition (TASSC) International will hold its annual conference and advocacy days from June 23 to 26, 2021. The theme of this year’s conference is “The Asylum Crisis in the USA.” This is a great opportunity to learn about the challenges facing the U.S. asylum system–and to do something about it. All events (including advocacy) will be held online and are free. In support of the conference and its goals, from today until June 30, all proceeds from my new book, The Asylumist: How to Seek Asylum in the United States and Keep Your Sanity, will go to TASSC International!

TASSC is an amazing organization consisting of torture survivors and asylum seekers who help and support each other. Speakers at the event will include torture survivors, advocates, mental health professionals, and lawyers (including yours truly–on June 23rd at 11:30 AM).

The first day of the conference features a number of important topics, including a discussion about the asylum system’s failures and challenges, survivor resilience, and advocating for a humane asylum system. There will also be a training for people participating in the advocacy days (on June 24 and 25).

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By Jason Dzubow
# Human Rights# Immigration

Teshuvah and the New Administration

There’s a concept in Judaism known as “teshuvah,” which means “returning.” The term implies a return to righteousness, and repenting for past sins. In Judaism, when we think of teshuvah during Rosh HaShana (the New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), we think in terms of collective sin: We ask G-d to forgive us for the sins “we” committed, even if we did not personally commit those sins. We also pledge to right wrongs, even where we did not personally engage in wrongdoing. This is what I am thinking about as we inaugurate the Biden-Harris Administration after four years of President Trump.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Human Rights# Immigration

A Reflection on the Election

As I write, we still have no decision, and the election rests on the edge of knife. Perhaps Joe Biden will manage to pull out a win, but I am personally feeling deeply pessimistic. Once again Donald Trump has proved the pollsters wrong and he and his fellow Republicans have exceeded expectations. There will be … Read more

By Jason Dzubow