Fwd: Sign-On Letter To Feinstein Re: One-Year Bar to Asylum

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Lara Kiswani

unread,

Jun 10, 2013, 4:15:37 PM6/10/13

to aroc...@googlegroups.com

thoughts? we have gotten requests to sign onto this letter from several groups.

lara

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Center for Gender and Refugee Studies <in...@cgrs-hastings.org>
Date: Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 11:19 AM
Subject: Sign-On Letter To Feinstein Re: One-Year Bar to Asylum
To: Center for Gender and Refugee Studies <in...@cgrs-hastings.org>

Dear Colleagues,

Please sign on to the attached letter calling on Senator Feinstein to support Section 3401 of the immigration reform bill (S.744), which eliminates the one-year filing deadline to asylum. The deadline’s devastating effects cannot be understated. One study found that in its first 12 years of operation, the filing deadline deprived 21,000 bona fide refugees of asylum. Often, it is the most traumatized asylum seekers who are harmed by the deadline, and yet Senator Feinstein opposes eliminating the filing deadline. She mistakenly believes that a longer filing deadline will solve the problems caused by the one-year deadline. The Senator needs to hear from her constituents that Californians demand elimination of the deadline. To let her know your view, complete this form by 1 PM PST, this Tuesday June 11.

The filing deadline, which is the single most criticized aspect of our asylum law system, ignores the severe mental health impact of the violence, abuse, and other persecution that asylum applicants have endured; it disregards the challenges faced by those who do not speak English and are new to our culture and legal system or simply do not know about asylum; it clogs the already overwhelmed Immigration Court system with cases that would otherwise be adjudicated at the Asylum Office, resulting in substantial cost and delay; and most importantly, it deprives bona fide refugees of desperately needed protection. Those who miss the filing deadline are at grave risk of being returned to their persecutors or being relegated to a lesser form of relief that keeps them in legal limbo and forces them to remain separated from children and spouses.

Extending the deadline, which Senator Feinstein supports, won’t fix these problems. Rather, it will further marginalize LGBT individuals, and will harm women seeking asylum at significantly higher rates than men, according to a recent academic study described in the attached letter. Please sign on to tell Senator Feinstein that Californians support elimination, not extension, of the deadline.

Complete this form to sign on. We will be accepting signatures from organizations, as well as individuals (law school clinicians, immigration law professors, and attorneys) in their own capacity. The deadline for signatures is Tuesday, June 11, at 1:00 PM PST.

Thank you for helping ensure that the U.S. is truly a safe haven for individuals fleeing persecution!

Sincerely,

Lisa Frydman

Associate Director/Managing Attorney

Center for Gender & Refugee Studies

U.C., Hastings College of the Law

200 McAllister Street

San Francisco, CA 94102

Phone: (415) 565-4791

Email: fryd...@uchastings.edu

Robin Goldfaden

Senior Attorney, Immigrant Justice