Why Legal Status is Critical
By Natalie Foote, RILA President/CEO
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) works with governments and states to determine if people seeking international protection are considered refugees under international, regional or national law. The United States agrees to resettle a certain number of refugees each year. For fiscal year 2021, the US will admit up to 62,500 refugees. For reference, there are nearly 26 million refugees in the world, half of whom are under the age of 18.
When a refugee is resettled in the US, he or she already has legal status as a refugee. A refugee is able to legally work and is eligible for social services and other forms of government assistance, such as housing, food and medical care. Refugees are legally required to apply for permanent residency after one year of living in the US, and they are able to apply for US citizenship after being permanent residents for five years.
It is imperative that refugees understand their legal status and receive assistance in applying for permanent residence (which is a legal requirement!) and US citizenship, both of which are lengthy, complex and expensive administrative processes. Becoming permanent residents and eventually US citizens gives refugees the invaluable gift of a secure future in the US, as well as several tangible benefits such as traveling with a US passport, voting, and eligibility for federal grants and scholarships.
Like refugees, asylum-seekers are fleeing persecution and harm in their home countries and seeking international protection since their home governments are not able to protect them. However, when asylum-seekers enter the US without a visa or another kind of entry document, they do not have legal status. Even if an asylum-seeker enters the US with a visa, that visa is not permanent status and will eventually expire. Instead, asylum-seekers must apply for asylum, either in Immigration Court or at the Asylum Office, and prove that they meet the legal requirements for asylum and are, in fact, refugees. And they must do so within one year of entering the US, with some limited exceptions.
Once asylum-seekers successfully apply for asylum, they are permitted to lawfully remain in the US and eventually apply for a work permit while their cases are pending. However, asylum-seekers face a number of barriers to successfully applying for asylum, and as long as they remain with no legal status, they are vulnerable to exploitation and harm, such as forced or unpaid labor, domestic violence, human trafficking and severe food and housing insecurity. Applying for asylum is a critical first step toward security, protection, self-sufficiency and recovery from past trauma. Without this first step, asylum-seekers remain vulnerable, and they risk losing the opportunity to ever apply for asylum due to missing deadlines or court dates that they know nothing about.
In 2019, 46,500 persons were granted asylum in the US. However, this number does not capture the actual number of asylum-seekers in the US, as many asylum-seekers never find legal representation and therefore are not able to apply for asylum, or they try, unsuccessfully, to apply for asylum on their own. Some are denied asylum, even though they may have met the legal requirements for asylum. Granting asylum is discretionary, and asylum grants among immigration judges vary wildly, which exposes serious inequity and subjectivity in a system meant to objectively apply the law and provide justice. At Arlington Immigration Court, asylum grant rates range from 6.5% to 88% between judges. In Atlanta, asylum grant rates among judges range from .09% to 8.4%. Where an asylum-seeker lives and the immigration judge over his or her case presides are significant factors in the likelihood of being granted asylum.
Asylum cases can take years to adjudicate, but once an asylum-seeker is granted asylum and found to be a refugee within the meaning of US law, he or she becomes an asylee and is then able to receive the same benefits and support as a refugee. Critically, an asylee is able to petition for family members to come to the US, which are often children who, for safety reasons, had to be left behind. Like refugees, asylees are eligible to apply for permanent residency and eventually US citizenship, giving them security and safety in the US after a years-long process.
RILA is honored to represent asylum-seekers and to advocate on their behalf — to show that they are refugees and in need of safety and protection. Though there are innumerable challenges in each asylum case and systemic issues in our immigration courts, we are committed to persevering and pursuing justice for asylum-seekers and honoring their lives and courage.