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REAL ID Act a REAL Disaster for Asylum Seekers

New York, NY

The passage of the REAL ID Act is devastating for asylum seekers—particularly women and children—seeking safe haven in the United States, says the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children. The bill, which is expected to go for a final Senate vote next week, marks a major change in the way the United States treats asylum seekers.

“The REAL ID Act exemplifies wrong-headed policy that does nothing to protect the United States from terrorism, yet threatens legitimate refugees, wastes money better spent on effective security programs and undermines our nation’s values,” says Wendy Young, director of external relations. “The true targets of the bill are not terrorists, but refugees.”

By drastically raising the bar to asylum claims, the bill will have life and death consequences for those fleeing rape, female genital mutilation, honor killings, forced marriages, sexual slavery, trafficking, recruitment as child soldiers and other forms of age and gender persecution.

Among its many outrageous provisions, the REAL ID Act allows immigration judges to deny asylum based on unsworn but inconsistent statements—even if the statements have nothing to do with the asylum seekers’ claim. An immigration judge can deny asylum to a woman fleeing rape if she fails to tell her full story when she first arrives in the United States. Although it’s unrealistic to expect a woman or child to articulate such sensitive and often traumatic details of abuse immediately upon arrival, under the REAL ID Act, the immigration judge could deny her claim based on this perceived inconsistency. The bill would also allow her to be deported while her asylum appeal is pending in Federal court.

In addition, the REAL ID Act would give an immigration officer or immigration judge broad authority to deny asylum seekers’ claims based on their perception of the appropriateness of the asylum seekers’ “demeanor.” That is, a judge may rule against a survivor of abuse if he or she appears to be lacking in emotion or has difficulty making eye contact. This arbitrary and subjective determination completely discounts the complex psychosocial, social cultural context of the refugees’ lives.

The REAL ID Act would also require asylum seekers to prove their persecutor’s “central” motivation for harming them, essentially penalizing a refugee who cannot prove what is going on in her persecutor’s mind.

“Women, children and families who came to the United States in search of freedom and prosperity have paid a disproportionately heavy price in the search for national security,” says Young. “While we all have a critical interest in ensuring our nation’s safety, we must avoid adopting policies that wreak havoc on the lives of the innocent and at the same time do little to actually those who do wish us harm.”