Definition of Asylum Seeker – 1 minute read
An asylum seeker is any person who has fled from their home country for fear of their lives being jeopardized due to race, religion, nationality, gender, membership in a social group, or political opinion and has asked the United States to grant them asylum, or sanctuary.
Reasons for seeking asylum vary drastically, and each story is filled with the immense courage and resilience of the person seeking safety. Read real stories from DASH residents here.
Some of the primary places DFW receives its asylum seeker population include Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, China, Pakistan, Central America, Burundi, and Angola.
Difference Between Refugees & Asylum Seekers
Refugees and asylum seekers both meet the American Immigration Council’s definition of a refugee:
A person who is unable or unwilling to return to his or her country of nationality because of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
Refugees
Typically, refugees flee in sizable groups to neighboring countries where the United Nations (UN) has set up a refugee camp. Here, refugees wait several years until they are granted permanent refugee status. At this point, the UN pays for their travel to resettle in the United States or another safe country. Thankfully, in the United States they are immediately eligible for a work permit and are met at the airport by a caseworker. After their long journey, the US immediately places them in a furnished apartment with 6-8 months of resettlement benefits including food stamps, financial assistance, case management, medicaid, and more. By no means are we downplaying the struggle of the refugee. We acknowledge the incredible hardships presented by refugee resettlement camps and by the trauma of the persecution that caused them to flee from their homes. Thankfully, however, once refugees arrive in the US they are provided with support and assistance to thrive in America–this system has room to improve, but it’s existence is a blessing.
Asylum Seekers
The reception of refugees into the United States stands in stark contrast to that of asylum seekers. Asylum seekers typically face persecution individually or as a single family unit. Similarly to refugees, asylum seekers have also experienced unimaginable persecution: 75% of the asylum seekers in DASH have been beaten, raped, or tortured in their country*. Asylum seekers are in such immediate danger that they have to flee for their lives immediately, often alone and in secret, and find a way to get out of the country.
Asylum Seekers arrive at the airport alone and if they don’t have a contact in the US, which many do not, are typically unsure of what to do next. They are not greeted with a furnished apartment, the legal ability to work, or social services provided by the federal government–in fact, most states do not provide social services to asylum seekers. Alone, without the help of a translator or case worker, and with very limited finances, asylum seekers are faced with the long and arduous legal process of filing for asylum. Asylum seekers in DFW often wait for 2 years or more before they receive their work permit and social security card. Until their asylum case is granted, which can sometimes take several more years, they remain ineligible for any federal social services.
How are these people supposed to survive during this wait? This is why many of these educated, hard-working, courageous victims of injustice, who come here for safety, end up on our streets. DASH exists to stand in this gap.
