The Indian Business Owner TIBO Magazine - Volume 003 | Page 10

THE UGLY TRUTH
ABOUT ASYLUM
Let me start off by saying that I have never filed
an asylum application in my entire legal career. I
have always had an issue with taking money from a
potential client knowing that their story was identical
to the thousands before, and likely over exaggerated.
This is not to say there are not tens of thousands of
Indian nationals who suffered atrocities inflicted by
the government and police in the same manner many
refugee-seekers claim, however, this article isn’t for them.
I suppose my reluctance in taking an asylum case
stemmed from the fact that I knew there were attorneys
out there that simply copied and pasted the same fact
pattern over and over for multiple clients. Eventually
8 |TIBO M agazine - V olume 003
that strategy fails (and is completely unethical) and the
chances of a successful appeal in the 9th circuit are even
worse. In my earlier years as a lawyer, I would get angry
at this lack of compassion from my fellow colleagues,
but then I realized that filing an asylum application is
usually the only way for many people that come from
abroad without inspection to “buy time.” However,
these asylum seekers get a false sense of hope when they
get bonded out by their family (usually costing upwards
of $20,000), and receive a work authorization card.
The reality is the asylum application is basically an
attempt to put a band-aid on a bullet hole.
Owners of trucking and restaurant companies typically
ask me what I think the chances are their employees
will be allowed to stay and work in the U.S. My answer
involves asking them two questions: who the asylee’s
immigration attorney is and what evidence do they have
to prove that the asylee was persecuted in their home
country. The answer to the latter question is typically
the most telling sign about the chances of the asylee
gaining asylum.
I also inform the business owners of the shifting
attitude of judicial approval of asylum case. In the
2016, EOIR statistics yearbook, it was found that India
only accounted for 3.54% of successful asylum grants
compared to other countries. Most practioners are
likely to admit that immigration judges do not have the
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