January 30, 2004
Asylum News 22
Tibetan Nun Detained in Virginia Jail Denied Parole Again
New Report and People Around the Country Urge Secretary Ridge to Make Changes to Asylum Detention System Take Action Now! Urge US Department of Homeland Security to Improve Detention Procedures for Asylum Seekers “Chasing Freedom,” an original Court TV Film to be aired in January, tells the story of a young Afghan woman (played by Layla Alizada) who is persecuted by the Taliban for running a school for young girls and the pro bono attorney (played by Juliette Lewis) who reluctantly takes on her asylum case after the woman is detained when she arrives at a U.S. airport in search of refuge. The film was inspired by a real asylum case handled by a team of dedicated pro bono attorneys for Human Rights First, and Human Rights First provided expertise on asylum and detention issues to Court TV while the screenplay was being written. It is a sobering depiction of the nearly insurmountable obstacles that asylum seekers face when they arrive in the U.S. The young refugee woman portrayed in the film, like so many asylum seekers, arrived in the U.S. without proper documents and was detained by immigration authorities upon her arrival at a U.S. airport. In the last two years, at least 15,300 asylum seekers have been subject to detention at U.S. airports and borders. They are transported to jails and detention facilities often in handcuffs, and often without any clear understanding of why they are being detained. In detention, once they pass a screening interview, asylum seekers are legally eligible to be paroled if they satisfy the INS, now DHS (Department of Homeland Security), parole criteria for asylum seekers – criteria which include community ties, no risk to the community, and that identity can be established. But, in practice, even asylum seekers who meet these criteria continue to be detained. Immigration officials too often ignore or selectively apply the parole criteria, which exist only in guideline form rather than formal regulations. And, as is dramatically represented in the film Chasing Freedom, when an asylum seeker’s parole request is denied by DHS officials, they have no meaningful recourse – they cannot appeal the decision to an independent authority, or even an immigration judge. TAKE ACTION Human Rights First is recommending that the Department of Homeland Security make some concrete changes to improve the fairness of detention procedures so that they are consistent with the U.S. tradition of protecting the persecuted. We urge that the Department:- Create a new high-level refugee protection position in DHS Secretary Tom Ridge’s Office;
- Give asylum seekers the chance to appeal parole denials to immigration judges; and
- Put the existing parole guidelines into formal regulations that must be applied by DHS.
- Monday, January 12 at 6pm for a screening in Washington D.C. at the Visions Cinema sponsored by Court TV, Human Rights First and other groups.
- Thursday, January 15 at 6pm for a screening in New York City at the New School, Tishman Auditorium sponsored by Human Rights First , American Friends Service Committee, New School International Center for Migration, Ethnicity, and Citizenship (ICMEC), Riverside Church & Sojourners Ministry.
- Thursday, December 18 for a screening in Seattle, Washington at Northwest Asian Theatre sponsored by Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, in conjunction with Amnesty International, the Hate Free Zone & the Association of Immigration Lawyers.
- Thursday, December 18 for a screening in Houston, Texas at the University of Houston Law Center sponsored by University of Houston Law Center, Catholic Charities & Legal Aid Clinic.
- Friday, January 2 for a screening in Spokane, Washington sponsored by Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, in conjunction with Amnesty International, the Hate Free Zone & the Association of Immigration Lawyers.
- Monday, January 5 for a screening in York, Pennsylvania sponsored by the Coalition for Immigrants’ Rights at the Community Level (CIRCLE).
- Thursday, January 8 for a screening in Miami, Florida at the University of Miami sponsored by the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center.
- Tuesday, January 13 for a screening in San Antonio, Texas sponsored by SAIRRC, Human Rights First for Civil Rights under Law of Texas & St. Mary’s University School of Law
- Thursday, January 15 for a screening in San Francisco, California at Hastings Law School sponsored by Amnesty International, Active Voice, Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at Hastings Law School & Human Rights First for Civil Rights
- Thursday, January 15 for a screening in Denver, Colorado at the University of Denver, Cable Center sponsored by The Cable Center, Rocky Mountain Survivors Center & Court TV.
- Friday, January 16 for a screening in Jersey City, New Jersey sponsored by First Friends Interfaith Refugee Action Team
- Friday, January 16 for a screening at the University of Washington sponsored by Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, in conjunction with Amnesty International, the Hate Free Zone & the Association of Immigration Lawyers.
- University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota sponsored by the Human Rights Center of University of Minnesota
- Los Angeles, California sponsored by UCLA International Institute, UCLA Law School International Law Society & other groups
- Chicago, Illinois sponsored by Midwest Immigrant Human Rights Center
- January 19 at 9pm (premiere)
- January 24 at 9pm
- January 27 at 10 pm
- February 22 at 10pm
