ASYLUM SEEKERS NEWS

US creating border crisis by stalling asylum cases, advocates say

Rights groups say it’s ‘inconceivable’ US prioritised fortifying border over processing asylum cases expeditiously.

Baja California state Governor Francisco Arturo Vega is urging migrants and refugees taking part in the exodus to spread out to other ports of entry along the border instead of further concentrating in Baja California, “to alleviate what we have here and to try to address and manage it with more promptness, with more efficiency.”

The long wait

Tabsangh’s wait to enter the US came as thousands of Central Americans, part of a mass exodus, trickled into Tijuana area to sign up on the waiting list to seek asylum in the US.

‘They said leave or else’: Why a Honduran family is fleeing to US

Many told Al Jazeera they are fleeing violence, poverty or political persecution. The first of the highly visible groups, originally dubbed caravans and now a self-denominated exodus, left Honduras last month.

More than 5,000 migrants and refugees are now in Tijuana, and most of them are staying in a local stadium complex that is more than 2,000 people over capacity. Subsequent waves of the exodus, largely from Honduras and El Salvador, are making their way up through Mexico.

How you can help by supporting the International Rescue Committee (IRC):

Trump administration “asylum ban” violates existing law

On Nov. 19, a U.S. federal court in San Francisco temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s new “asylum ban,” saying it violates existing law and would cause irreparable harm to immigrants.
The IRC is strongly opposed to the administration’s decision to deny safe haven to families like those in the Central American caravan who are seeking asylum.
This ban would not address the root causes of this crisis: Current levels of violence in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are akin to those in the world’s deadliest war zones, and continue to increase.
The IRC is providing emergency support in El Salvador to families affected by violence. In the U.S., we are assisting families being reunified or released from federal custody, and those awaiting the outcome of their proceedings.
Read the IRC Statement

Immigration and Migration Oral History Projects/Collections

Bracero History Archive

National Park Service Ellis Island Oral Histories

University of Texas at El Paso Institute of Oral History

Northern Michigan University Italian-American Immigrant Oral History Catalog

Minnesota Historical Society, Minnesota Immigrant Oral Histories

Library of Congress, Interviews with Today’s Immigrants

Arab Immigration Oral History Digital Collection, University of Florida

PhilaPlace, Oral Interview Collection

Resources and Lesson Plans Related to Immigration/Migration and Oral Histories

Library of Congress, Teacher Resources-Immigration

The New Americans, PBS