There is a new generation of asylum seekers. I wanted to repost this information I shared from 2020. Hope it might help:
My two cents:
My two cents:
- Patience
- I have written here on several posts that in order to navigate the asylum process, you need to be very patient. Processing of your claim is at the mercy of the immigration agencies and courts, whose efficiency is dependent on politics in Washington D.C. Speaking from my own experience, I think most of us are forced into the asylum process, and the reality of the process and our initial expectations do not match. I certainly thought I would be done in a few months. I was wrong. It took 25 months. Of course like everyone, I was frustrated as the process dragged on. Unlike you recent fillers, during our time, most people were not eligible for EADs, so we couldn't work on top of waiting. I endured some of my dark days, most difficult days, while waiting for my asylum claim to be settled.
- However, as I met other asylee applicants, as I attended the asylum hearings at the Immigration Court, I came to realize that those getting a final decision in 9, 16, 25, 30 months etc were very lucky: In 2009, I attended a hearing of a case of a man from Iran. He had been battling to get a final decision on his case since 1995.
- The Future
- I think one of the things that helped me survive waiting for my case to be processed was imagining the future. The waiting, the frustrations, etc, were ok. Close family abandoning me, relationships broken, that was ok. Because approval of the case would provide me with a refuge, a safe place to live. And perhaps, I could have a career, I could do the impossible. Of course, I'm still nursing the wounds of the past, the broken family relationships. But, nine years since the case was finally approved, I have established a corporate career, I have been safe from the COP goons, and I'm on standby to finish my phd. So, I think things have gone well for the most part.
- Guests
- I think that we are guests here in America. The one thing we can all do is to respect their ways, their laws, how they do things. We are not entitled to anything, the Americans do not owe us anything. While everyone's situation is different, I feel that for the most part, their system works in the end. As we fight for our cases, we should always remember that.
- As today is memorial day, take the time to understand their history. I always find that I'm so thankful to older Americans, their dead: their hard work, their sacrifice made it possible for me to be here, claiming asylum.
