Asylum and Its Discontents in the United States
I recently litigated an Eritrean asylum case where my client traveled through various countries to reach the United States. He passed through each country illegally—sometimes with a false South African passport; other times, he just crossed the borders without inspection. From the beginning to the end of his journey, smugglers assisted him (for a price—the … Read more
Not long ago, the Washington Post reported on one of my clients from Eritrea, who was smuggled through a dozen countries before entering the U.S. and gaining asylum. The article states that my client’s “epic trip underscores the challenge of protecting U.S. borders in the face of agile networks of smugglers, corrupt officials who arrange travel … Read more
I’ve written a number of times about the route East African asylum seekers take to reach the United States. The journey usually takes them through Africa to South Africa, and then to South America, Central America, and finally the U.S. Along the way, the asylum seekers are passed from one smuggler to the next. Because I … Read more
Many African asylum seekers enter the United States at the Mexican border. Their journey to the U.S. is long and circuitous. In East Africa (where some of my clients come from), people travel from Ethiopia, Eritrea or Somalia to Kenya. From there, they go to South Africa and Brazil using false passports, and then through South … Read more