1 reply to this topic

[VisaGuru]

Every year millions of people around the world are displaced by war, famine, and civil and political unrest.

The U.S. government considers persons for resettlement to the U.S. as refugees. Each year, the U.S. President consults with Congress and establishes the proposed ceilings for refugee admissions for the fiscal year. For the 1999 fiscal year, the total ceiling was set at 78,000 admissions and was allocated to five geographic regions:

* Africa (12,000 admissions),
* East Asia (9,000 admissions),
* Europe (48,000 admissions),
* Latin America/Caribbean (3,000 admissions),
* Near East/South Asia (4,000 admissions), and
* the Unallocated Reserve (2,000).

A refugee is defined as a person outside of his or her country of nationality who is unable or unwilling to return because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinions.

Under U.S. law, a person who has committed acts of persecution, or has assisted in the commission of persecution in any way, on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, is not eligible for classification as a refugee.

The bolded "well-founded fear of persecution" standard is quite high. There has to be substantial document proof from internationally recognized sources and organizations that the persecution fear is actually imminent and well documented. For example, during the Vietnam War, many refugees were granted resettlement status in the U.S. due to a recognized and fundamental fear of persecution. The same is documented of Afghanistan and countries of war and civil unrest.

[Jam Helmcor]

On December 16, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released a statement announcing a change affecting those coming to the U.S. seeking asylum. ICE will no longer detain asylum seekers who have a credible fear of persecution or torture in their home country if the asylum seekers can establish their identity and do not present a flight risk or a threat to public safety.

The change is a result of efforts to reform ICE detention policies and focus on criminals and those who pose a threat of violence. “These new parole procedures for asylum seekers will help ICE focus both on protecting against major threats to public safety and implementing common-sense detention policies,” said ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton All arriving asylum seekers are considered eligible for parole, which is a dramatic shift from the previous policy requiring asylum seekers to make requests for parole in writing.