Detention of Asylum Seekers in the USA

The paper will present evidence of inhumane treatment that the asylums seekers in the US border usually receive, the advantages of permitting asylum seekers into the country, and possible solutions that will help the government accommodate them until political situation in their country is resolved and it is safe to return (Brané, Michelle, and Wang Lee 37). The paper will provide some of the policies which can be adopted in the criteria for awarding individuals with asylum preventing illegal immigration that has negative economic and social effect on the country. Poor management of asylum seekers results to illegal immigration in the country. The US president, Donald Trump has most of the time voiced his concern about asylum seekers stating that the migrant caravans making their way into the country highlights the weakness of the US immigration laws (New York Times 1).

The weakness in this case refers to failure of the US government to protect their borders against illegal immigration. One of the critics of president Trump’s administration was that the US would rather receive refugees from western nations than from the Middle East and South America (Lalami and Laila 10). This reflects on the stereotype labelled against Mexican asylum seekers as drug traffickers and violent group with a potential to disrupt peace in the US. Asylum seekers mainly come to the US to find help, but instead, the government targets them as criminals and deports them back to their countries (Danticat and Edwidge 25). The government needs to understand that asylum seekers are humans just like ordinary US citizens and their rights and freedoms should be respected.

The US government should instead provide primary basic needs to them especially food, shelter and healthcare as the government looks for a permanent solution (Danticat and Edwidge 26) Asylum seekers should be provided with legal assistance when facing detention and bottlenecks involved in the application for asylum should be eliminated. The immigration laws should be fairly and effectively exercised, there should be no exceptions to any person due to race, religion or ethnicity. The asylum seekers should be provided with an oath to testify that they fear persecution if they are returned to their home countries. This ensures that the government only provides refuge to those that fear for their lives and prevent admission of individuals with selfish interests into the country.

The US government should not return individuals that are under serious threat and may face harm if deported back to their country. Fear should be assessed by three factors, that is race, religion or ethnicity violence (Lalami and Laila 10). A good number of famous social scientists were asylum seekers from foreign countries (Kerwin and Donald 3) History highlights that the US has played an important role of becoming a global sanctuary (Kerwin and Donald 4). The action by President Trump to sign an executive order that prevents entry of foreigners from seven Muslim-majority countries however eliminates this sanctuary role that US has played for a long period of time. The action bans entry of asylum seekers especially from Syria fleeing from violence and conflicts in their country.

Despite the action being deemed to protect US citizens from terrorism, the ban is not according to international laws since it denies sanctuary based on religion. While the purpose of banning entry of asylum seekers from specific Muslim nations is to foster the national security, the decision is likely to impact the US negatively. 385) Allowing asylum seekers in the country and providing for them basic needs greatly benefits the US and its citizens. The act of offering sanctuary to foreigners despite their race, ethnicity and religious beliefs make the world to acknowledge the US as a nation that value people irrespective of their religious background, race or ethnicity differences (Kerwin and Donald 5). Such recognition positively influences how the world views the US citizens.