A Well-Founded Fear… of Muslim Asylum Seekers

For some time now, the threat of Islamic extremism has been an important factor in our country’s immigration and asylum policies. But two recent–and horrific–events overseas have reminded us about the gravity of that threat.

CharlieFirst is the case of Man Haron Monis, an Iranian national who received asylum in Australia. Last month, Mr. Monis took hostages in a café, forced them to display a Jihadi flag, and demanded to speak to the Australian Prime Minister. By the time the incident ended, two hostages were dead and several were injured. Mr. Monis also died in the confrontation. The incident was only the most recent in a long history of problems for Mr. Monis. Among other things, he had been charged as an accessory in the murder of his ex-wife, he was charged with several counts of sexual assault against various women, and he had notoriously sent hate letters to the families of Australian service members killed in Afghanistan, which also resulted in criminal charges.

The second incident is the massacre at Charlie Hebdo magazine in France. The suspects in that attack seem to have been French nationals of Algerian decent who saw the attack as revenge for the magazine’s cartoons disparaging the Prophet Mohamed. At least some of the suspects in that attack have had prior problems with the law, including terrorism-related arrests, and the men seem to have been connected with a Yemeni terrorist network.

So with two fresh examples of Islamic extremists attacks in the West, it seems to me a fair question to ask: Why do we risk allowing terrorists into our country through the asylum and refugee system? Why not simply limit asylum to people who hale from non-Muslim countries? Certainly there are plenty of non-Muslim refugees who need our help. And certainly, as well, there are people not too far on the fringe who–assuming they could not eliminate asylum altogether–would be very happy to limit humanitarian relief to non-Muslims.

There are several ways to address these questions. One way–which I won’t discuss in detail but I want to mention–is to talk about historic injustices in the relationship between the Muslim World and the West: Colonization, economic exploitation, repeated military interventions, humiliation. The West’s actions in the Middle East have contributed to the problem of Muslim extremism. But we have to live with the world that now exists, however imperfectly that world came to be, and I don’t think the West’s past failures justify putting our citizens at risk of attack by extremists. In other words, just because we helped create the problem of extremist terrorism does not mean that we shouldn’t do everything possible to prevent terrorists from coming to our countries, including–if appropriate–closing the door to asylum applicants from Muslim countries.

However, there are other reasons that I think justify allowing people from all countries to seek refuge here.

For one thing, allowing ourselves to be intimidated by terrorists into modifying our humanitarian values or cutting ourselves off from Muslim people would be a victory for the terrorists. It would mean that we gave in to our fears. Great nations are not bullied by ignorant thugs. We already have strong safeguards in place to identify potential terrorists and criminals, and prevent them from coming to our country. In a future post, I will make some suggestions for how we might further strengthen our defenses. 

Second, many of the Muslims that seek protection in the U.S. are people who worked with the United States military or government, or who worked for international NGOs and companies in concert with our efforts (however imperfect) at nation-building. Such people risked their lives and trusted us. To abandon them would be to send a message that America does not stand by its friends. This is a message that we cannot afford to send. If we are not trustworthy, people will not cooperate with us going forward.

Third, allowing terrorists to drive a wedge between our country and moderate Muslims would make the world more dangerous. There will be fewer bridges, not more. We need to keep strengthening ties between the West and the Muslim World. The terrorists want to cut those ties; we cannot let them.

Finally, on a more personal note, most of the asylum seekers I represent come from Muslim countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Egypt. Almost all of them hold strong pro-Western views (i.e., they believe in the foundational values of our country). Many of them worked with the United States or with Western organizations. Others are political activists, women’s rights activists, and gay rights activists. One of them famously (or infamously in his country) made a trip to Israel in an effort to promote peace. Many of my clients have been threatened by the same types of people who committed the murders in Australia and France. Some of my clients have lost family members to Islamic extremist attacks. A good number of my clients continue their political activities after they are granted asylum, as they hope to help bring change to their countries. As a matter of principle, morality, and as a matter of our national interest, I feel we are well-served by offering protection to such people.

Although the news usually reports terrorist attacks, it rarely reports the opening of a new school for girls. It reports threat levels and terrorist “chatter,” but it often ignores peace-building efforts, reconciliation, and democratic activism. Many people in the Muslim World want change. We saw that in the Arab Spring. We need to align ourselves with such people and give them our support. We need to stay engaged with the world and not retreat. We need to remain hopeful and not surrender to fear.

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12 comments

  1. Jason, i was referred to immigration court the reason was material inconsistecy in supporting documents. Whether or not some incidents occured and this is material to your claim. Jason my attorney said you are referred for fraud findings. Mean while my U visa was approved , he said they will prosecute me, my master hearing is not scheduled yet. I dont know what to expect. I discused with other attornies as well. I cannot Go back to COP. Even with visa in hand i cannot sleep, may be death can reduce toll to my turmiol. I am mother of three children Jason please give me some advice.

    Reply
    • It is rare for a person to face prosecution for immigration fraud – it is possible, though, as that just happened to one of my clients (I am writing a blog post about it, which I hope to post next week). However, there is a big difference between a finding of “material inconsistencies” and a fraud charge. Maybe your lawyer talked to law enforcement and knows that a charge is coming (he should tell you this, and provide details, if that is the case), but if the only basis for his belief is that you were denied for material inconsistencies, then I doubt a fraud charge is coming. You should try to get more detail from him. In my client’s case, he was charged, detained, and then released, with a requirement to report for court in the future. Hopefully, this will not happen, but until then, hopefully if you have more info from your lawyer, it can give you some comfort. Good luck, Jason

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  2. Hi Jason,

    I submitted an application for EAD based on pending asylum case, I received today a I-797C form saying that (The case has been received by our office and under process) does that mean my work authorization is approved?

    Thanks

    Reply
    • No – it means USCIS has your application and now they will work on it. Hopefully it will be approved soon, but we are seeing people wait up to 4 months. Take care, Jason

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      • Thanks

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  3. Hi Jason . I have a question . If there somebody submitted for asylum and he did fingerprint just waiting interview can he apply for green card diversity immigration program ? Thanks a lot

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    • He can apply, but if he wins, he may or may not be eligible to get the green card without leaving the US, and leaving the US might cause big problems. I suggest that he applies (since it is free) and if he wins, he should consult a lawyer to see what is the next step. Take care, Jason

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  4. There is also the plain fact that nearly all of the desperate people trying to seek refuge in Europe and America from war, dictatorship and, murderous religious extremism in the Middle East and Africa are not terrorists. They are the victims of terror regimes, such as Assad’s, or terror organizations, such as ISIS The fact that many of them are Muslims is incidental, or would be, except for Islamophobia in Europe and America.

    Instead of stigmatizing and blaming the victims, we should be looking into our own attitudes and overcoming our own prejudices.

    Roger Algase
    Attorney at Law

    Reply
    • Thank you – I certainly agree with your points. Take care, Jason

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  5. […] but that is not what I want to discuss today (I’ve already written about Muslim refugees here). Instead, I want to cover two topics: First, I want to discuss the process of how refugees get […]

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  6. Is there any reason to presume that the main threat from asylum applicants is terrorism, as opposed to garden-variety crimes? I would bet good money that if you listed all the terrorist murders committed by asylees and then all the asylees who killed someone by driving drunk, in a drug deal gone bad, in a spousal murder, etc., the second list would be several hundred times longer, and there wouldn’t be a disproportionate number of Muslims on it. I see no reason to suppose that Australia would have been made any safer by focusing on Mr. Monis’s religion, as opposed to his documented criminal history.

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    • I agree that refugees (and people in general) are more likely to be criminals than terrorists. However, the issue here is the perception of danger from Muslim asylum seekers. While we have to focus on weeding out criminals, there is a real threat from terrorists – even if that is less of a problem than common criminals – and the asylum system must focus on that problem as well.

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