Op-ed Alexander Grzanowski Gv8474 10/25/21 The United States is making criminals out of people who have never set foot in the country. These people, who are venturing to the United States to seek asylum from terrible situations, are being criminalized for attempting to get into the country due to policy that it is illegal to enter without inspection. These people must enter because of United States’ policy also requires people to be on the country’s soil to seek asylum. So how are these people to seek asylum in the United States if they are criminals for trying to get there to do so? The short answer is they cannot. That is why these policies are so terrible. The policies that prevent people from seeking asylum unless they are present in the Untied States, but also criminalize those same people for trying to get in the country are antihumanitarian. They are aiding to the problems that so many people face and are compounding on crises throughout the world, making them even worse than they already are. These policies are huge roadblocks for people seeking asylum from Central American countries. These people are typically coming up through Mexico and are trying to make their way onto Untied States soil. This however is quite the challenge because the Untied States attempts to catch them before they can make it to the country, citing that they are attempting to enter without inspection. This, due to United States policy renders them criminals before they even get to the country. As described in the 2018 article, Gender Violence: One Driver of the Central American “Caravan” by Cecilia Menjivar and Shannon Drysdale Walsh, people who are apprehended are given a misdemeanor. These people are attempting to escape from their places of origin and seek refuge in the Untied States, but the United States labels them as criminals and places obstacles in their way. This just compounds on the problems that these people face and propels humanitarian crises, essentially adding fuel to the flames. The policy that criminalizes for attempting to enter without inspection is not working alone, the requirement to be on United States soil to seek asylum also works against these people. These people who are attempting to escape and find a better life. Being in the United States us a huge roadblock and it prevents many from being able to seek asylum. A lot of people who are in these terrible situations do not have the means to get to the United States and therefore cannot seek asylum in the United States. This also aids in humanitarian crises that plague some Central American countries. This policy keeps people who are in terrible situations in those situations. Some argue that these policies just weed some people out and that once some can get onto United States soil, they are good to go. That is completely false. Even if people who are seeking refuge to manage to get past the previously mentioned policies, life does not get easier. People are heavily prosecuted and questioned. Many are sent ack if they are found to not have reasonable fear. As described by Menjivar and Drysdale Walsh: Instead of recognizing the plight of Central American migrants and allowing them to enter through the proper channels to apply for protection as refugees, the U.S. government has been prosecuting them as criminals, separating them from their children and other family 3/4 members, placing them in indefinite detention in prison-like conditions, and rushing them through immigration courts. (Menjivar and Drysdale Walsh 2018) The United States creates even more obstacles along the way of asylum seekers. Even if they do manage to make it to the country without being criminalized and are able to declare as an asylum seeker, their life does not get any easier. They still are in as much limbo as if they were still trekking through Mexico on their way to the United States. The policies that prevent people from seeking asylum unless they are present in the United States, but also criminalize those same people for trying to get in the country are antihumanitarian. They criminalize people for coming to the country to seek a better life and make it extremely difficult to meet the conditions needed to find asylum. These policies must be either reworked or gotten rid of entirely in order aid those who wish to find asylum in the United States. References Menjivar, C., & Drysdale Walsh, S. (2018). Gender Violence: One Driver of the Central American “Caravan.” The Gender Policy Report.
