‘A heightened sense of fear’
State’s migrant community unsettled by U.S. Supreme Court asylum order
NEW HAVEN — Connecticut’s top agencies and advocates for migrants say a Supreme Court order that would disqualify most current asylum seekers from entry is part of an ongoing, worrying trend.
On Wednesday night, seven justices of the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling to temporarily undo a San Francisco district judge’s ruling against a federal policy that would deny asylum to those who pass through another country en route to the country without first seeking asylum there.
“A lot of folks are going to be turned away at the border, which is troubling,” said Daniel Reyes, executive director of Junta for Progressive Action, which advocates for the advancement of the Latino community in Greater New Haven. “Honestly, I think we need to see how this plays out at this point.”
Reyes said his experience is those going through proceedings are “numb to the rigors they have to go through in order to stay here.”
“Customer service is not one of the best things they do at Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” he said.
Ann O’Brien, director of community engagement for Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, which helps refugees resettle in Connecticut, said the order is consistent with what she said is the administration of President Donald Trump’s efforts to close the country to asylum seekers entirely.
“Basically we are taking the safety of these families and putting it onto the responsibility of countries who have far fewer resources than the United States,” O’Brien said.
The Trump administration has said it wants to close the gap between an initial asylum screening that most people pass and a final decision on asylum that most people do not win, The Associated Press reported.
“BIG United States Supreme Court WIN for the Border on Asylum!” President Donald Trump tweeted.
In Connecticut, although the population IRIS works with has already been granted refugee status, O’Brien said many have family members who are waiting to be resettled. The policy wipes out one of the last remaining avenues those family members have to enter the U.S.
“They’ll have to sit there where they are in unsafe situations, to hope they might have the chance to be resettled through the refugee program which the administration is contemplating taking to zero in terms of admission in the upcoming year,” she said. “They’re basically closing down any potential path to the U.S. to seek asylum unless you’re from Canada or Mexico.”
Claudia Connor, president and CEO of the Connecticut Institute of Refugees and Immigrants in Bridgeport, said the Supreme Court guidance is “extremely disturbing and distressing” and is “a thwarting of the rule of law.”
She said people crossing the border understand “the risks of flight can be fraught with dangers and peril” but “the risk of staying home is even more dangerous.”
“Our laws do allow for people to come to the border or a port of entry, declare asylum and to remain here outside of detention,” she said.
Presently, she said, CIRI and allies are waiting to hear what the federal administration determines will be the number of asylum seekers permitted into the nation this fiscal year. Last year, Trump capped the number at 30,000, and it is not known how many will be allowed in the coming year.
In fiscal year 2018, 156 refugees arrived in Connecticut, according to the state’s Refugee Assistance Program. The year before, it was 452. In 2016, the last year before the Trump administration set the fiscal year budget, 837 refugees arrived in Connecticut.
“This decision, and the administration’s action and Supreme Court decision, really will ensure families remain separated,” Connor said. “While it may not be the family separation at the border we saw last spring, it is yet another way to ensure people are not finding safety, that they’re not reuniting with family members who may already be here, and it’ll push people into extremely dangerous and lifethreatening situations.”
O’Brien said the administration has undermined United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to the point where the most straightforward asylum claims will not be processed. She said the population IRIS and CIRI serve are afraid to go to government offices now for help.
Connor said migrants are experiencing “an extremely high level of fear about their own status, even if they’re documented.”
Reyes said Junta is attempting to remain hopeful and to “impress upon people to be compliant” by not making mistakes on their paperwork and by attending meetings on time.
He said Junta and other community advocates are in the uncomfortable position of watching the case “wind its way through the courts.”
“The Supreme Court should know full well this is an inhumane act, so in the interim, why allow it to happen?” Reyes said. “The judiciary has been way too deferent to executive powers.”
Stephen Miller, a prominent Trump adviser, has urged Trump to slash refugee admissions to zero in the coming fiscal year.