“Anybody who can hear me — I’m here in Mauritania. I’m here in a closet. Anyone in the United States who can hear me, help me to get out of this place, the most dangerous country in this world…. Mauritanians anywhere in the world should be protected.” — Black Mauritanian man who was deported after living in the US for decades (“Help me to get out of this most dangerous country”)
Everyone deserves to live a safe and dignified life. After countries turned their back on Jewish people during the Holocaust, the United States enacted laws and ratified treaties to enshrine the right to seek asylum in U.S. law.
But subsequent executive and congressional actions have eroded asylum access and returned refugees to harm. A new analysis from the Ohio Immigrant Alliance outlines specious reasons why U.S. immigration judges have denied asylum to Black Mauritanian and other refugees over the years. (Download the PDF).
These reasons include ignorance about the country’s political context, culture, languages, and ethnic groups; convoluted, contradictory, illogical laws; and a fundamentally flawed, quasi-judicial immigration court that permits bias to drive decision-making, with little access to meaningful appellate review. Migrants often have to present their cases without a legal guide, while the government is represented every time.
With testimonies and case examples from people who have been through the system and were deported, “Scarred, Then Barred” shows how U.S. immigration laws have harmed Black Mauritanians and other people in need of protection. The report also highlights recommendations for what to do instead, sourced from the Mauritania TPS Working Group, Ohio Immigrant Alliance, Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, and Peter L. Markowitz’ paper “A New Paradigm for Humane and Effective Immigration Enforcement.”
Said Lynn Tramonte, Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, “Instead of closing the door on people seeking asylum, the Biden administration and Congress should review our report and others documenting the tragic truth of our asylum laws and immigration courts. While pretending to protect people, we are deporting refugees to actual harm. The individuals we interviewed for this report are good people whose lives and safety matter. They deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, not thrown back to the terrors they fled by judges and politicians who have never walked a mile in their shoes.”
“Scarred, Then Barred: U.S. Immigration Laws and Courts Harm Black Mauritanian Refugees” is the fourth in a series about racism in U.S. immigration laws and courts called “Behind Closed Doors.” Read this and previous Ohio Immigrant Alliance publications at illusionofjustice.org.
Listen to more testimonies from Black Mauritanians denied asylum here and in this digital press release.