For the past several days, thousands of illegal immigrants have been flooding the California border and applying for asylum. Asylum is a special request that is often honored for individuals from foreign countries where they are at risk to persecution, injury, or death. These people can fill out paperwork allowing them to enter the United States where they will be protected from pursuants in their native country. Normally, the number of asylum applicants is steady, but in recent days scores of families have arrived in Otay Mesa and San Ysidiro, California seeking protection.
In fact, the ICE has been forced to rent hotel rooms at nearby hotels so that they can house the massive influx of immigrants that are applying for asylum in the country. Some immigrants have been sent to other cities around the United States so that other ICE offices can share the burden of all the applicants. Fox News reports that the ICE employees have been asked to work overtime and some have been requested to work weekend shifts.
Documents show that the ICE officials are asking employees to help with intake, placements, transports, and the release of some family groups and unaccompanied minors. Many ICE officials are curious about what has driving the influx of immigrants to the borders. Some believe that word has gotten out that many immigrants can receive asylum simply by saying that they have a "credible fear" of the drug cartels. The illegal immigrants coming to the borders say that this discovery is pushing more and more Latinos to America to apply.
Still, the U.S. Attorney for Southern California says he doubts that the massive amount of immigrants have arrived merely because of word of mouth. He believes that someone organized the mass entrance on purpose. One day last week, 200 border-crossers made their way to the Otay Mesa Port of Entry claiming asylum. The same day 550 people overflowed the sleeping capacity there and in San Ysidro. One worker says that there were people sleeping on the floors because there was nowhere to put them. The ICE is worried that the situation will became another debacle if the immigrants continue to arrive.
In addition to buying hotel rooms in San Diego, the ICE has had to move some immigrants to other ICE offices in Texas, Florida, and New York. One report shows that at least 70 applicants have been moved to other parts of the country. The ICE says that the addresses that these people were sent to are almost always bogus. Many of the individuals who applied for asylum will probably fail to show up for their court date and be marked absent. They will then be listed as illegal immigrants.
Most of the immigrants showing up at the border are from Mexico, but other claimants are from countries like Iraq, Romania, Haiti and Guatemala. The individuals applying for asylum are of all ages and backgrounds. At present, many of the immigrants making credible fear claims are waiting to hear whether or not the threshold is met in their case. If it is, then the asylum eligibility decision rests with an immigration judge.
Most immigrants who apply for asylum don't even show up for their immigration court date, and are then listed as illegal immigrants. This is because about 91% of all asylum petitions from Mexico are denied. Asylum claims from Mexico have been unusual for years, so many believe that the current influx is an organized sham. Instead, many believe that immigrants are simply trying to overwhelm the U.S. system and get a free pass into the United States. Sources say that between 600,000 and 800,000 immigrants fail to show up for their asylum court date every year.
If you are an immigrant dealing with an asylum plea, then you are doing to want to hire an attorney to assist you. In fact, hiring an attorney will show that you are serious about your asylum application and don't intent to skip out. Get more information by discussing with a local immigrant attorney today!