Overview of the Asylum Process
The United States has long held to the principle that it will not return a foreign national to a country where his/her life or freedom would be threatened. The Asylum process is an essential tool for anyone seeking protection from individuals which mean great harm to themselves and their family back in their home country. This process is directly related to the immigration process. The process can be started as soon as someone enters the country at one of the border entry sites or before deportation. Since its founding, the United States has been a sanctuary for refugees. The country has granted asylum to more than 2 million refugees in the last three decades. It is a lengthy process and most would say a thorough process but past events such as the Boston Marathon bombing would reveal a different story. …show more content…
Wasem (2011) stated that some assert that asylum has become an alternative pathway for immigration rather than humanitarian protection. The reason for this concern is that many of the individuals seeking asylum are nefarious individuals such as terrorists and/or extremists posing as refugees. Others argue that given the religious, ethnic, and political violence in various countries around the world it has become more difficult to differentiate the persecuted from the persecutors.
Some express concern that U.S. sympathies for the asylum seekers caught up in the democratic political uprisings in the Middle East, northern Africa, and south Asia could inadvertently facilitate the entry of terrorists. Although the Refugee Protection Act of 2011 has made significant revisions to asylum policy it still needs additional changes. Updating the process will only make the borders safer. So it is important to understand which countries have the highest refugee rate and terrorist groups, to see if the two are related.
The United States has long held to the principle that it will not return a foreign national to a country where his/her life or freedom would be threatened. The Asylum process is an essential tool for anyone seeking protection from individuals which mean great harm to themselves and their family back in their home country. This process is directly related to the immigration process. The process can be started as soon as someone enters the country at one of the border entry sites or before deportation. Since its founding, the United States has been a sanctuary for refugees. The country has granted asylum to more than 2 million refugees in the last three decades. It is a lengthy process and most would say a thorough process but past events such as the Boston Marathon bombing would reveal a different story. …show more content…
Wasem (2011) stated that some assert that asylum has become an alternative pathway for immigration rather than humanitarian protection. The reason for this concern is that many of the individuals seeking asylum are nefarious individuals such as terrorists and/or extremists posing as refugees. Others argue that given the religious, ethnic, and political violence in various countries around the world it has become more difficult to differentiate the persecuted from the persecutors.
Some express concern that U.S. sympathies for the asylum seekers caught up in the democratic political uprisings in the Middle East, northern Africa, and south Asia could inadvertently facilitate the entry of terrorists. Although the Refugee Protection Act of 2011 has made significant revisions to asylum policy it still needs additional changes. Updating the process will only make the borders safer. So it is important to understand which countries have the highest refugee rate and terrorist groups, to see if the two are related.