Week 9
This week I got to go to another individual hearing. For this hearing, the DHS attorney filed a “notice of nonappearance,” which means that they weren’t going to be in court to cross-examine the asylum seeker or witnesses. In both hearings I’ve observed where the attorney has filed one of these notices, the person seeking asylum had a particularly strong case and a compelling story. Even though they may not have to be cross-examined, the person seeking asylum still has to present their story to the judge and answer any questions the judge may have. The person seeking asylum also has a chance to present other witnesses who may be able to add additional context or confirm details about their story.
In this hearing, GAIN’s client was a former judge in Afghanistan who was targeted by the Taliban after the Taliban retook control of the country. The Taliban have taken revenge on judges and prosecutors across the country, and they threatened him and murdered several of his colleagues. At one of the most moving moments of the hearing, he even held up a photograph of the body of one of these colleagues to show the judge exactly why he was afraid to return to Afghanistan.
Thankfully, he managed to escape Afghanistan, but because of various bureaucratic hurdles, he couldn’t come to the United States immediately. Instead he had to make his way here by taking a roundabout path through South American countries who were more willing to offer humanitarian visas to Afghan refugees. It took him several months to make his way to the United States from Brazil.
This part of his story is not as unique as it sounds. Thousands of Afghans have taken a path through South and Central America to arrive at the southern US border and seek asylum here.1 While this path has plenty of its own dangers, for people faced with capture or death, it may be the best of their options. After all, he is now safe in the United States, while many of the people who tried to follow the (theoretically) direct route of humanitarian parole are still trapped in Afghanistan, and may be for a long time.
At the end of his testimony, the judge was ready to make a decision on his case, even without hearing from the other witness. Then came the best part of an individual hearing - when the judge said, “Welcome to the United States.” After everything this man went through, both in Afghanistan and along his journey, he finally found protection. For a moment, everyone in the courtroom was reminded of what the United States can represent to people – safety, freedom, and an opportunity to build a better life.
1. https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2023/02/02/Afghan-refugees-Brazil-dangerous-US