1st came into action in 1939 St. Louis900 German Jews decided to go flee to Cuba, by the time they arrive to Cuba, the regime had changed & they are told to turn around & go somewhere else. They planned to go to Miami but FDR would block the St. Louis to keep them from coming in. They eventually went back to Europe were most of them died in concentration camps.Referred to as the “voyage of the damn”1945 CommunismThere was a dilemma of communism; thousands of people who attempted to flee couldn’t be dealt with. The young UN didn’t quite know how to handle it.1951 UN Convention on Refugees1. it had to define a refugee & say what their rights are2. it had to define what are the obligations of the governments to people who flee into their countries?1967 US signs & ratifies itThis treaty establishes Non-refoulement this is the corner stone of refugee law which means refugees will not be sent back to a country where their lives & liberty will be at risk.Refugee is a person outside of their country with a well-founded fear of persecution in that country on account of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or particular social group.1. Internally displaced peoplePeople that have not left their home country. To be considered a refugee you have to be outside your country. UN added this because they didn’t want to intervene to help people under this category.2. People seeking economic gainsA lot of Haitians face this problem because they have to prove themselves since their country is a developing nation.3. Those fleeing general types of violenceIn order to be a refugee you have to show an individualized fear of persecution. This does not include civil war, war zone, etc..4. Those fleeing natural disastersAsylum is reserved for those facing individualized persecutions.1. Refugee Camps: Countries can keep refugees in camps, they don’t have to let them in & give them permanent residency.2. Repatriation: Allow the refugee to stay until conditions in their home country improve. This is what was done in Rwanda when Tutsis went into neighboring countries; after the war was over they were repatriated into their country, similar to Mexico during their civil war.3. Third Safe Country option: take the refugees & send them into another country that will take care of them. Refugees are however being treated as commodities where trading deals have been made if countries are willing to take refugees in.4. Accept refuges, give them refugee status for 1year & then they are allowed to apply for permanent residency and after 5 years apply for citizenship. This is the U.S’s policy & is considered the best policy in the world. They do have to prove that they are being persecuted.These grounds limited ways that someone can obtain an Asylum1. Race: color or ethnic groupSlavery based on the color of your skin, or due to your ethnicity2. Religion:If the government prohibits a religion or if they punish people of a particular religionAsylums have to show that they are legitimately pursuing that religion not just for the purpose of seeking asylum3. NationalityWhen their own country persecutes someone because they are from a different nationality. Kurds in Iraq were considered to be their own nationality as well Vietnamese living in Cambodia during the genocide4. Political Opinion: 2 types of casesa. When you have a political opinion that is not tolerated. It is about your individual believes you can be persecuted for, you don’t have to be involved in a political partyb. Imputed political beliefs, meaning something that the persecutor assumes you believe whether you do or not.5. PSG Particular Social GroupAny kind of social group to which one belongs, typically it is connected to immutable grounds. Definition of Immutable being characteristics you either cannot or should not have to change. For instance, people from a royal family, families in general, HIV positive individuals, gay & transgender groups, etc.Gender is not considered to be a social group because it is not small enough. Because of this, women have been subjected to risk. You have to show that you are a woman from a particular tribe or religion or family.In a case where seekers come in with false documentation, a low level officer will give them 15 mins to tell the immigration officer what they are afraid of. They have to show that there is a possibility that they could apply for asylum. The challenge of this is that the seekers don’t know any laws that could help them. That person is sent back if they can’t show the possibility for them to gain asylum.Statistics are unknown of how many are turned awaySome times their fear might be of a person in a uniform and the officer taking their hearing might be in oneIf they get through the credible hearing, they will receive this.4 things must be showed to get bonded out (to not be held while waiting for trial):Must show that they have families & friends to stay withThey have to show they will not be a threat to the communityProve that it’s likely that you will show up for your immigration hearing (by paying a bond, from 3000-20,000 cash to the court, which they don’t get back until after the hearing). They usually stay detained while waiting for an immigration court hearing because they don’t have these requirements.Once in trial, if they are lucky, they will get a lawyer if not it will just be a single prosecutor without a jury. 2 partsDirect examination: where the refugee lawyer throws softball questions, where they tell their story through questions being asked. The lawyer can’t give a leading question it has to be open.Cross examination: this is where an gov attorney asks a leading question in which they try to show the person doesn’t have a well founded fear, that judge cannot trust the person or they don’t have the 5 grounds.Rights Asylum seekers do not have:1. No right to 5th amendment, if you don’t testify its held against you2. No 4th amendment rights,3. No right to an attorneyRodni Alvarado, a woman who has been subjected to 20 years severe domestic violence was electrocuted, subjected to self-abortion, & severe beatings by her husband. She flees to US.Significant because her advocates would attempt to get more grounds considered for asylum. They based that she is a Guatemalan women, who has endured domestic violence & who wishes to flee that violence. INS judge grants her an asylum however BIA rejects her to prevent future floodgates by saying that
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