America’s asylum system has transformed from a way to help refugees into an entire alternative immigration system. Even America’s de facto Open Borders policy is not good enough for those who want to dispossess the American people. Instead, Congress has now created the “right” to asylum for any victim of a crime anywhere in the world.
Three recent Main Stream Media stories highlight the “asylum” farce.
Until recently, crime victims who were in this country illegally could only stay until they were no longer needed to give testimony in court. However, our rulers are now using the mere existence of crime—any crime—to keep migrants in the country permanently, as this first story illustrates:
Dyah Widyati is a rape victim. As a result, she also has become the victim of an overloaded and backlogged visa system created to help immigrants who are victims of crimes.
Immigrants such as Widyati who are applying for the humanitarian U visas created by the 2000 Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act have to wait a year or more for their visas to be approved. During that time, they are in a no-status limbo.
They are without authorization to work or attend college. They can't leave the country without jeopardizing their right to return. They don't qualify for any benefits to help them get through a lengthy waiting time without paychecks.
Immigrants Face Long Delays For Visas Designed To Help Crime Victims, by Nancy Lofholm, Denver Post July 15, 2013
Rape, of course, is a horrible crime. But Widyati’s immigration status—she has overstayed her visa—had nothing to do with her rape. Her illegal status neither endangered pending testimony nor enabled threats against her from the perpetrator. In fact, her rapist is unlikely to ever be caught, much less prosecuted.
...Widyati, who came to the United States from Southeast Asia legally in 2009 on a student visa and currently lives in Denver.
Widyati, 32, was living near Baltimore and working on her master's degree in women's studies when a stranger entered her apartment and raped her.
The victims' program Widyati went to for counseling persuaded her to apply for the U visa. It would keep her in the country to help with prosecution if the perpetrator were caught. Widyati's attacker has not been found.
Before the creation of what the Denver Post calls the "humanitarian U Visa", crime victims and witnesses who were not lawful residents were either issued a visitor's visa or paroled into the United States temporarily for the period necessary to testify. Once the testimony was completed, there was no need for the victim or witness, and they could return home. There was, in fact, no problem to solve.
But Congress and the radical Leftist and ethnic lobbies created one. They wanted to bring more immigrants to the United States by any means necessary. Giving green cards to aliens, especially illegal aliens, was an end in itself.
U visa applications have jumped from 6,835 in federal fiscal year 2009 to 24,768 in 2012, leaving U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services scrambling to catch up with the growing backlog. Compounding the problem is the cap of 10,000 of these visas being available annually. The situation is leaving victims such as Widyati in dire straits.
The U Visa program is the cheapest method of immigration for applicants. It is virtually free.
The U Visa is marketed by Leftist groups to supposed victims of domestic violence. However, these victims already have their own fraud-ridden program under the Orwellian "Violence Against Women Act" [VAWA], recently expanded for more illegal aliens by none other than John Boehner. [Obama signs expanded Violence Against Women Act, AP, March 7, 2013] You learn everything you need to know about the priorities of this program when you see that even the alleged “abuser” qualifies for a U Visa under VAWA if the "abused" spouse includes the "abuser" on the application.
Which brings us to the next story. Not only do crime victims in the United States get a green card—but crime victims in other countries get a green card as well!
A U.S. immigration court in a rare action granted asylum to a citizen of Mexico who fled Juárez after 11 of his relatives were killed suspected drug cartel-sponsored extortionists, El Paso lawyer Carlos Spector said Monday.
The court found that asylum petitioner Christian Chaidez, 30, lost 11 relatives ranging in age from 24 to 66, and could not count on Mexican law enforcement to protect him, Spector said.
The relatives were killed between June 25, 2009, and July 31, 2012, a period of unprecedented violence in Juárez that Mexican authorities attributed to drug cartel rivalries and a culture of corruption in law enforcement.
"The granting of asylum to victims of extortion is rare and unusual as it is generally considered criminal activity not covered by the traditional definition of "refugee," Spector said. "Generally, a refugee is an applicant who must show that his life or freedom would be threatened in the country because of his race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion."
"The immigration court also concluded that the Mexican government was unable or unwilling to protect Mr. Chaidez from further persecution and that internal relocation within Mexico was unreasonable due to the corruption and infiltration of Mexican immigration officials who could identify him upon removal from the United States, and subsequently release him to cartel members," Spector said. "As a result of the granting of withholding of removal Mr. Chaidez is allowed to live and work indefinitely in the United States."
Juárez Man Granted U.S. Asylum After Family Killed By Cartels, by Diana Washington Valdez, El Paso Times, July 9, 2013
No government, not even our federal government, can prevent crime against all of the people all of the time. And crime is even more rampant outside the United States. Mexico, all of Africa, Central and South America, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, and other places all have high crime rates. Most governments in the world are “unable or unwilling” to protect all their citizens.
Even in the US, the police have no legal obligation to protect anyone. In 2005, the Supreme Court ruled in Castle Rock v. Gonzales that police have no duty under the Constitution to provide individual protection to any person, even a person with a real fear and a specific suspect. And that was a wise decision. Neither the federal nor state governments have the manpower to protect every citizen. Nor can any foreign government make such an impossible boast.
Yet, incredibly, it appears that, to benefit aliens and ethnic lobbies, the United States Congress created a right for foreigners never to be a crime victim. If you are victimized, the United States will give you a green card and a lifetime on welfare.
Why are foreigners given a right to a crime free life that is denied to Americans? For the same reason that immigration policy has been crafted to benefit foreigners rather than our own people: Asylum, like mass immigration generally, is not about helping the American people, or even about helping foreigners. It is about dispossessing Americans and electing a new people.
Which brings us to the final story. The Obama Regime recently began unilaterally refusing to enforce the law and deport various classes of illegal aliens, criminals included. But now the Administrative Amnesty has been extended to those who have been already deported.
The Homeland Security Department tentatively approved asylum requests for nine Mexican immigrants, including some who were living in the United States illegally but left and attempted to re-enter as part of a protest against U.S. deportation policies.
Christopher Bentley, a spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said DHS ruled that the immigrants have a "credible fear" of being persecuted if they are sent back to Mexico.
"The legal threshold for credible fear is broad and low, in order to ensure that individuals who may face a 'significant possibility' of persecution if removed have the opportunity to have their case heard before an immigration judge," Bentley said.
It is rare for the U.S. government to grant asylum to Mexican citizens.
The immigrants were trying to call attention to hundreds of thousands who have been deported during President Barack Obama's administration. They had cited a credible fear of persecution should they return to Mexico.
9 Mexican Immigrants Who Took Part In Deportation Protest Win First Step In Bid For Asylum, by Alicia Caldwell, Newser, August 6, 2013
These Mexicans’ claim on asylum, of course, is completely specious. Most have been living in Mexico most of their lives and are Mexican citizens by birth. They do not meet the definition of asylee or refugee, as expressed in the Immigration and Nationality Act, Section 101(a) 42:
(A) any person who is outside any country of such person's nationality or, in the case of a person having no nationality, is outside any country in which such person last habitually resided, and who is unable or unwilling to return to, and is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of, that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion… (My emphases).
We know their asylum claim is fraudulent because, before they applied for asylum, they demanded, not asylum, but inclusion in the DREAM Act Administrative Amnesty.
Nine DREAMers were arrested at the border crossing point here on Monday when they tried to reenter the United States from Mexico to test the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
The young people were arrested by U.S. authorities as soon as they had passed through the entry gate.
The members of the group were dressed in their high school graduation robes and were surrounded by reporters and members of the community on both sides of the border who shouted “bring them home.”
“I’m not afraid, we’re ready for our voice to be heard,” Maria Vargas, one of the nine young people, told Efe before they were arrested.
DREAMer Activitists Arrested at Border When Trying to Re-Enter U.S. from Mexico, Hispanically Speaking News July 22, 2013. (My emphases throughout).
Vargas says she's not afraid—but she is supposed to be afraid, of the evils of Mexico. Pretty strange for an asylum applicant. Furthermore, she and her co-conspirators returned to be included in the DREAM Act Administrative Amnesty, but are still requesting asylum anyway.
A propaganda release from one of the Treason Lobby's activist organizations trumpets that the "DREAMers" are returning to be "reunified" with various family members and friends, and treats us to a mini sob story about each. Of course, this also shows that the effort has nothing to do with legitimate "asylum" but is a political stunt.
NATIONAL— Five deported DREAMers will attempt to return home by presenting themselves at the Nogales Port of Entry on Monday, July 22nd. The DREAMers will be joined by Lizbeth Mateo, Marco Saavedra and Lulu Martinez, activist who left this week in order to test the Obama Administration’s policy on deported immigrants. Supporters are planning ‘Bring Them Home’ echo rallies across the country.
All of the students will be asking the Obama Administration to grant discretion and to allow them to return home.
“I was brought to Phoenix when I was four months old. My home is in Arizona, not here in Mexico,” said Adriana Diaz, one of the Dreamers set to take part in the action. “I am going to cross the border hoping that President Obama realizes there are lots of us dreamers stuck here in Mexico, even though we consider our home to be in the U.S.”
All eight students will present themselves and ask that the Obama Administration use its discretion to parole them into the country.
Five Deported DREAMers Will Attempt to Cross Border Monday, Dream Activist Undocumented Students Action & Resources Network Press Release dated July 21, 2013.
So when it's convenient, the activists demanding, not asylum, but discretion and parole.
Furthermore, none seriously claim persecution in Mexico:
Claudia Amaro, 37, from Monterrey, Mexico moved to Colorado when she was thirteen years old. Her mother fled Mexico after her father was murdered and the family was threatened. In 2006, while living in Wichita, Kansas, Claudia’s next husband was detained while driving to work. ICE detained Claudia while interpreting for her husband.
Living in Mexico has been hard for Claudia and her thirteen-year-old US citizen son. Finally, her mother gained legal status last year and was able to visit her grandson for the first time in seven years. Claudia is coming home to put the family back together that deportation tore apart.
Adriana Diaz, 22, from Mexico City, first came to Phoenix, Arizona when she was just four months old. Adriana graduated from Crestview Preparatory high school in 2010 with many accolades, including the Citizenship Award. To this day, two of her murals decorate its walls. Adriana left Phoenix three months before DACA was announced. She left because she was tired of living in fear under Arpaio, not knowing each night if her mom was going to come home.
Once in Nogales, Adriana tried to go to school. Because she lived so long in the US, Mexico recognized her as a foreign student and would not accept her US degree. Instead of going to school, Adriana has been working with migrants at the Juan Bosco shelter in Sonora. Adriana is coming home because she has no memories in Mexico. Her entire life was in Phoenix—she has memories of school, birthdays, going to prom—even her partner of four years lives in Phoenix. Everyone deserves to come home.
Luis Gustavo, 20, from Michoacán, Mexico has lived in North Carolina since he was five years old. He graduated from McDowell High School. Luis left Marion, NC, in August 2011 with the hopes of being able to finally go to school in Mexico. Luis, not being able to stand being away from his family, tried to come home in June 2012 when the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was announced.
Luis never made it; he was caught by border patrol. The responding agent sympathized with him, and filed for DACA on his behalf, but saw it rejected. Luis was subsequently deported. Desperate to come home, Luis attempted to re-enter three more times, and failed on each attempt. Luis is coming home to be with his mother, sister, and four brothers.
Maria Peniche, 22, from Mexico City first came to Boston when she was just ten years old. She graduated from Revere high school in 2010 and went on to attend Pine Manor College. By 2012, paying the high price of tuition became too difficult, and she dropped out. Three days before DACA was announced, Maria left for Mexico to continue her schooling. “Here in Mexico you can only do one thing, either work or go to school,” she said. Maria has had to put off her studies and work in order to provide for her family. Maria is coming home to provide for herself and her family, and pursue her education.
Ceferino Santiago, 21, came to Lexington, Kentucky, at the age of thirteen in order to be with his older brother, Pedro. Ceferino is a permanent part of the Lexington community; he helped paint a mural at one of the local middle schools. During high-school, Ceferino ran for the school cross country team and was honored as one of the program’s top student-athletes in 2010. After graduating from high school, Ceferino was forced to return to Oaxaca, Mexico because of an ear infection which required surgery that cost $21,000. Ceferino is coming home so he can be with his brother, his community, and to continue with his studies.
So some left voluntarily, others have “partners” who could have sponsored them as legal immigrants, all just want to live here. They have no fear of persecution—but the Regime has approved their asylum requests in a double quick manner while legal immigrants like Mark Steyn, Peter Brimelow and John Derbyshire waited years for routine approvals.
The fix is in as it was on Obama’s Auntie Zeituni Onyango’s fraudulent asylum claim.
Asylum is now just another tactic for the Treason Lobby to facilitate the demographic takeover of the country.
If it continues, it will be the historic American nation that will need real asylum—and soon.
