TEHRAN- There is no wealthy country in the history of the world that has banned people from entering their territory to claim asylum. It is against international law to do so, but the United States is the only exception.
Experts say Washington’s foreign policy plays a central role in this illegal practice.
The asylum-seeking policy was first introduced during the administration of former President Donald Trump despite human rights groups describing the measure as not only illegal but racist.
Trump used emergency powers under the pretext of the Coronavirus pandemic to prohibit any asylum seekers from entering U.S. territory.
During the Biden era, all Coronavirus pandemic measures have been lifted, except for immigration and refugees seeking asylum in the U.S.
It is another example of how Biden has continued to inherit many policies from his predecessor despite pledging to do the opposite on the Presidential campaign trail.
Trump used the excuse of the Coronavirus to introduce “Title 42” in emergency powers that banned and expelled asylum seekers who were migrants already inside the country that were seeking asylum.
The sweeping border restriction enacted by Trump allowed federal officials to expel hundreds of thousands of migrants over two years.
There are also vulnerable people who are unable to seek safety from authorities in their homeland. Among them are minors as young as twelve who are sent by people smugglers into the U.S. to be sexually abused.
In a failed attempt to prevent asylum seekers from traveling to the U.S., during the rule of President Trump, scenes emerged of children separated from their parents in Texas at the southern border and kept captive in small cages by U.S. border authorities that shocked the world.
“Title 42” and the emergency powers have expired but the courts have extended it. President Biden claims he wants to end the practice as well but has avoided the use of emergency powers to stop the policy (despite being able to do so).
Migrants who do travel to the U.S. tend to have certain skills that America needs and are welcomed.
It is the vulnerable and those that seek safety that the U.S. is preventing from entering to seek asylum.
Under U.S. law itself, migrants (especially from Latin America) have the right to seek asylum at a center inside the U.S., but it is the racist policy of U.S. politicians who seek the popularity of voters that are closing the border in the face of asylum seekers.
Experts say the racist elements in the U.S. congress want to make America white.
Under U.S. immigration law, a person granted asylum is legally allowed to remain in the country without fear of deportation. They qualify to work, travel abroad, and apply for their spouse or children under the age of 21 to join them.
The White supremacists in the U.S. welcome white migrants from the West but discriminate against people of other colors. If these were Canadian migrants arriving, it would not be an issue, the problem in the U.S. is with non-white and especially black African former U.S. slaves entering the country.
Asylum seekers already make a very dangerous journey to reach the U.S. where American border and federal officers have reportedly assaulted them both physically and sexually.
There is little to no monitoring of how American border and federal officers are doing at the border.
Asylum Seekers who cross Mexico’s southern border are essentially fleeing violence and persecution yet struggle to get any protection, face serious abuses and delays, and are often forced to wait for months in inhumane conditions near Mexico’s southern border while struggling to find work or housing.
This is despite the fact that most people seeking asylum because of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America such as replacing democratically elected governments with puppet rulers. That is essentially why people are fleeing those countries.
But there is no real system to prevent human smugglers or monitoring groups along the U.S. southern border in line with international law.
Reports indicate U.S. immigration agents tried to dissuade asylum seekers from applying for refugee status and pressured them to agree to voluntary return, even when they said they would be at risk of violence and persecution in their home countries.
Other reports have cited cases where asylum seekers said they were instructed to sign voluntary return documents without reading them. Others said agents used poor conditions in detention as a deterrent, saying they would spend months in detention if they sought refugee status.
In some Latin American countries, there is corruption when it comes to the smuggling of drugs and violence as a result of Washington’s interference. This has deteriorated the economy of those nations as well which has made its people vulnerable enough to seek asylum in the first place.
At the same time, during the chaos and terror that Washington created in Afghanistan during its disastrous 20-year occupation, the Islamic Republic of Iran has accepted some three million Afghan asylum seekers and supported them with multiple services from humanitarian aid, to food, and medical assistance inside Iranian territory. No country has accepted more Afghan refugees than Iran.
And this is while the U.S. preaches to other governments about human rights.
The other issue with Latin American countries, according to experts, is the drug cartels wreaking havoc in numerous countries. These drug cartels are being financed by drug factions in the United States. 50% of the drug cocaine is consumed in the U.S. and this gives power to Latin-based drug cartels to do more business abroad while waging violence with rival cartels at home. The U.S. has done very little to address this issue.
Venezuela was a very prosperous country 20 years ago before the U.S. interference attempts to overthrow the democratically elected government of Nicolas Maduro. Despite the failed coup attempt, massive waves of refugees fled to the U.S. because of the mess Washington caused in their homeland.
This is not just limited to the United States. Through Washington's wars, invasions, proxy wars, and other types of military interference in other countries, hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers had to seek refuge in other countries, many of whom have traveled to Europe.
At the end of the day, the problem stems from Congress which has failed for decades now to address this matter by first ending any form of U.S. interference in Latin America and secondly passing bills to help assist the problems facing Latin American countries that were created by the U.S. itself.
Biden tried to end “title 22” in his first year in office as the Pandemic began to end but he has failed to do so.
Now he faces a challenge in a different Congress following the mid-terms so there is very little Biden can do anymore even if he even wanted to.
The fact that Washington can pass some $850 billion dollars on a military budget but cannot allocate proper resources to the southern border to have a humane and just immigration system speaks volumes.
No comments:
Post a Comment