This brochure provides you with important information about, obtaining authorization to work, winning asylum and the right to remain permanently in the US.
Obtaining your release from jail Difference between Exclusion and Deportation Proceedings.
Most Sikh asylum applicants arrive in the United States by plane, with false travel documents or with no documents at all. If you arrived in this manner and were arrested by Immigration at the airport, Immigration will place you in “exclusion proceedings”. You will appear before an immigration judge, who will determine whether you have a right to remain in the United States. If you are in “exclusion proceedings,” the judge has no authority to order Immigration to release you, set a bond, or to lower your bond. Only the District Director of Immigration has authority to order your release.
If Immigration arrested you outside of the airport or after entering without inspection from Mexico and Canada, you will be placed in “deportation proceedings”. There are important differences between exclusion and deportation proceedings. In “deportation proceedings”, for example, the judge has the power to order Immigration to release you on a bond. In exclusion proceedings, however, the judge has no such authority. So, if you are in exclusion proceedings, you should not be confused when you see the judge set bounds in other cases; they are deportation, not exclusion, cases.
Obtaining your release
In order to obtain your release most quickly, you should follow these steps.
- Contact a lawyer immediately.
- The law requires Immigration to give you a copy of the charges against you. If you have not received a copy of the charges against you, ask Immigration to give you one. Give these papers and all other papers you get from
Immigration to your attorney, your attorney may be able to expedite the proceedings against you or prevent your being transferred to another location by filling these charges with the court in San Francisco.
- Inform your lawyers’ office immediately of the names, phone numbers, and addresses of all the friends and relatives that you have in the United States or Canada. Who can then request their help in posting a bond for your release?
- An Immigration officer will interview you about your reasons for coming to the United States. In taking your statement, the Immigration officer will usually try to show that you came to the United States to find work, because this will destroy your asylum claim. Do not be afraid to inform Immigration of any political problems that you had in Punjab. For example, if the Punjab Police or CRPF arrested you or tried to arrest you for political reasons, it is usually best to inform the officer of these facts. These facts may strengthen your asylum claim and make it easier for your lawyer to obtain your release.
Your lawyers will attempt to obtain your release in the quickest possible manner, Immigration requires most Sikhs to pay a bond as a condition of their release. The amount of this bond will depend on the charges against you, the amount of detention space Immigration has available.
Your chances of winning asylum (or some other immigration benefit), and your willingness to appear for future court hearings.
If your fear arrest or physical abuse in Punjab, you may qualify for Asylum.
If you fled India because you feared arrest, torture, or other persecution by the Indian govt (e.g. the Punjab Police, CRPF, etc.) or non-governmental guerrilla groups (e.g. Babbar Khalsa, Khalistan Liberation Force, Khalistan Commando Force, Bhindranwale Tiger Force), you may qualify for asylum in the United States, If you win asylum, you may eventually qualify for permanent residence in the United States, which means that you would have the right to reside permanently in this country.
To qualify for asylum, you must show that you (I ) have been persecuted in the past or (2) have a reasonable fear of persecution in the future because of your political opinion, membership in a particular social group, religion, nationality or race. Although most Sikhs have had problems with the Indian security forces, it is unlikely that you will be granted asylum simply showing that you are a Sikh. Rather, most judges require that you or individuals in similar circumstances -have been singled out by the authorities for persecution, Validasylum claim scan take many forms, and it is impossible to list all of the possible variations. If you fall into one of the following categories, you may have a valid asylum claim;
The Punjab Police or Central Reserve Police have arrested and beaten you for advocating the creation of Khalistan;
The Punjab Police or Central Reserve Police have attempted to arrest you, because you were in active member of the All India Sikh Student Federation (AISSF) or any other Sikh political organization;
You can qualify for asylum even if you do not have any physical evidence of your persecution in India. Many Sikhs believe that they will be unable to win asylum without physical evidence like scars from torture, old arrest warrants, and the like. This perception is simply incorrect. Although physical evidence would be helpful, the law requires only that you give immigration a consistent, detailed, and credible oral account of your problems in Punjab. If your testimony demonstrates that you have been persecuted or that you may face Failure to attend your Asylum Hearing will result in an order for your Deportation.
Many Sikhs do not attend their asylum hearings, because they fear that Immigration will arrest them if the judge denies their request for asylum. This is a grave mistake. Immigration will not arrest you after your hearing, even if the Judge denies your application for asylum. If the Judge denies your request for asylum, you have the right to appeal that decision to a higher court. This appeal process can take several years to complete. Throughout this lengthy appeal process, you will continue to have your work permit and the right to live in this country.
If you fail to appear in court for your asylum hearing, the judge will deny your request for asylum and order you deported from the United States, This means that Immigration will try to arrest you and return you to India.
If you win an asylum at your hearing before the immigration judge or during the appeal process, the exclusion or deportation proceedings against you will be terminated, One year after winning your case, you will be eligible to apply for permanent residence (i.e. a “green card”), Once you have your green card, you will be able to live and work in the United States for as long as you desired that you do not violate Americans laws work Authorizations.
Generally, once you have applied for you a work permit, authorizing _ you to work in the United States for a period of one year. If you want your asylum case, your work permit will be extended indefinitely. If the judge denies your request for asylum, your work permit will be extended for as Jong as you go on appealing that decision, which can take three” years or more.
Other Immigration Remedies Asylum is just one way of obtaining permission to work and) live in this country. Other remedies may be available to you if you have lived in the United States for a long period or have family or a job offer here. Feel free to ask us about these other potential remedies.
Know your Immigration Rights: Tips for new Arrivals” is’ distributed by the law firm of Jobe & Melrod to Sikh detainees being held in custody by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
We encourage all interested parties to make use of the information, but request that the brochure not’ be reprinted without our express permission. Anyone seeking further information on how to apply for political asylum should contact the law office of Jobe and _ Melrod.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 19, 1991
