From Social Justice

This Lent, we continue to pray for “Adam,” the Afghan man who St. Austin is legally sponsoring to help reunite him with his family in the United States. During this season, we also want to look at some of the avenues that immigrants from all over the world – including Afghanistan, Ukraine, Guatemala, and the Democratic Republic of Congo – use to come or seek to come to the United States.

One possible path for someone who is not a U.S. citizen to attempt to remain in the U.S. is through seeking asylum. Here are a two examples:

• An Afghan woman came to the U.S. on a student visa to attend a university here and her visa expires in May 2022. She wants to remain in the U.S. after her visa expires rather than return to Afghanistan and requests asylum. She might have a viable asylum claim if she was previously persecuted due to her opposition to the Taliban.

• A Ukrainian citizen currently in the U.S. on a visa to attend a family member’s funeral might have a viable asylum claim due to his nationality and fear of persecution during the current Russian attacks on Ukraine.

Many of the people attempting to enter the U.S. through our southern border are also seeking asylum, which they legally can do once they step foot in the U.S. The situation of people from parts of Central America, Africa, and Asia are not highlighted in the news in the same way as the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the current coverage of the attack on Ukraine. However, once on U.S. soil, non-citizens are entitled to make asylum claims, and it is up to immigration judges to determine if their situation fits the definition of asylum.

Adapted by Interfaith Worker Justice from Education for Justice.