Desperately Seeking Asylum

Testimonies of Trauma, Courage, and Love

Helen T. Boursier

Told through heart-wrenching testimonies, photographs, and artwork of refugees fleeing their homelands, Desperately Seeking Asylum describes firsthand accounts of the harrowing and dangerous journey immigrants are willing to endure knowing that they might not even make it onto US soil.

Desperately Seeking Asylum prioritizes the testimonies of refugee families and unaccompanied children who are seeking asylum in the United States from Central America, primarily Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. Their desperate and heart-wrenching stories disclose why they fled their homelands, their experiences along the treacherous overland journey, and the harsh reality of how the United States treats these families and children upon arrival to the United States. It critiques US complicity to the violence they are fleeing and discloses how national leadership shapes US immigration policies and practices, including the blatant documented violations against asylum seekers at the US–Mexico border. Most notably, it offers transparency on US immigration practices at the US–Mexico border which violate existing US and international laws that are intended to protect asylum seekers, including the current official practice of blocking bridges with “turnbacks” to prevent “inadmissibles” from applying for asylum in the United States. It explains protections mandated by US law for unaccompanied children who are in US custody, and discloses violations which keep these children detained excessive lengths of time in substandard for-profit facilities which are overseen by the government and funded by taxpayers. Boursier also deconstructs the complicated asylum process, including examining the credible fear for asylum procedure, showing how technical terms and language are used to justify injustice at the border.

Desperately Seeking Asylum offers hope for a new vision with alternative options and practical actions which assist migrants through humanitarian aid on both sides of the border. The witness for compassionate and responsible response by people of conscious becomes an antidote to injustice against asylum seekers. Instead of the current administration manipulating US laws to support its ulterior motives and political agenda, Boursier asks readers to hold US elected officials accountable to the same “Rule of Law” that the United States demands of refugees. Ultimately, Boursier suggests a spectrum of options for practical ways to make the political personal through public witness and civic engagement to transform the broken immigration process for refugees who are desperately seeking asylum.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 236 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-5381-2833-6 • Hardback • November 2019 • $45.00 • (£35.00)

978-1-5381-2834-3 • eBook • November 2019 • $42.50 • (£35.00)

Subjects: Social Science / Refugees, Religion / RELIGION / Politics & State, Social Science / Emigration & Immigration

Desperately Seeking Asylum

Testimonies of Trauma, Courage, and Love

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Told through heart-wrenching testimonies, photographs, and artwork of refugees fleeing their homelands, Desperately Seeking Asylum describes firsthand accounts of the harrowing and dangerous journey immigrants are willing to endure knowing that they might not even make it onto US soil.

Desperately Seeking Asylum prioritizes the testimonies of refugee families and unaccompanied children who are seeking asylum in the United States from Central America, primarily Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. Their desperate and heart-wrenching stories disclose why they fled their homelands, their experiences along the treacherous overland journey, and the harsh reality of how the United States treats these families and children upon arrival to the United States. It critiques US complicity to the violence they are fleeing and discloses how national leadership shapes US immigration policies and practices, including the blatant documented violations against asylum seekers at the US–Mexico border. Most notably, it offers transparency on US immigration practices at the US–Mexico border which violate existing US and international laws that are intended to protect asylum seekers, including the current official practice of blocking bridges with “turnbacks” to prevent “inadmissibles” from applying for asylum in the United States. It explains protections mandated by US law for unaccompanied children who are in US custody, and discloses violations which keep these children detained excessive lengths of time in substandard for-profit facilities which are overseen by the government and funded by taxpayers. Boursier also deconstructs the complicated asylum process, including examining the credible fear for asylum procedure, showing how technical terms and language are used to justify injustice at the border.

Desperately Seeking Asylum offers hope for a new vision with alternative options and practical actions which assist migrants through humanitarian aid on both sides of the border. The witness for compassionate and responsible response by people of conscious becomes an antidote to injustice against asylum seekers. Instead of the current administration manipulating US laws to support its ulterior motives and political agenda, Boursier asks readers to hold US elected officials accountable to the same “Rule of Law” that the United States demands of refugees. Ultimately, Boursier suggests a spectrum of options for practical ways to make the political personal through public witness and civic engagement to transform the broken immigration process for refugees who are desperately seeking asylum.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 236 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-5381-2833-6 • Hardback • November 2019 • $45.00 • (£35.00)

978-1-5381-2834-3 • eBook • November 2019 • $42.50 • (£35.00)

Subjects: Social Science / Refugees, Religion / RELIGION / Politics & State, Social Science / Emigration & Immigration

Author

Rev. Dr. Helen T. Boursier is a public theologian, educator, author, activist, ordained minister, and artist. “Pastora Helena” has been a volunteer chaplain with refugee families both inside and outside family detention since 2014. She authored The Ethics of Hospitality: An Interfaith Response to U.S. Immigration Policies.

Table of Contents

Acronyms

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Setting the Context for the Conversation

Part I: Testimonies of Trauma, Courage, and Love: Meet the People Seeking Asylum

1 Desperately Seeking Asylum: Why the Families Flee Their Homelands

2 Fleeing for Their Lives: The Dangerous Overland Journey

3 The Harsh Reality: “Welcome” to the United States

Part II: U.S. Immigration Policies and Practices

4 The Messy Immigration Matrix

5 National Leadership Shapes U.S. Immigration Policies and Practices

6 Reality Check: Blatant Violations against Asylum Seekers at the Southern Border

7 Credible Fear for Asylum

8 The Scarcity Mentality and the Language of Injustice at the Border

Part III: Hope for a New Vision: Alternative Options and Practical Actions

9 The Bigger Picture: Embracing Refugees as Neighbors

10 Moving toward Responsible Response

11 Making the Political Personal: Three Examples

12 Help and Hope for Migrants: Humanitarian Aid on Both Sides of the Border

13 Public Witness and Civic Engagement

14 Resources for Education and Action

Notes

Works Cited

Index

Reviews

Desperately Seeking Asylum is a hyper-timely book. Boursier offers an indispensable primer for spiritual and ethical discernment on the deepest theological challenges that global migration presents. It is informative, accessible, experiential, and practically empowering for action—be it prayers, works of mercy and justice, or advocacy. It will be stimulating reading for the general public or communities of faith as well as for students in colleges and seminaries.
— Kristine Suna-Koro, Xavier University, author of In Counterpoint: Postcoloniality, Diaspora, and Sacramental Theology

Centered on the narratives of those most impacted, Desperately Seeking Asylum expertly weaves the experiences of immigrants and refugees with a comprehensive exploration of our current immigration system to reveal how and why it is so difficult to seek refuge in the United States. Through insightful research and extensive fieldwork, Rev. Dr. Boursier challenges the narrative that migrants are dangerous or powerless, while also offering hope for an alternate reality of hospitality through practical welcoming actions and advocacy.

— Jennie Belle, community organizer, Church World Service

Rev. Dr. Boursier puts her soul on the line as she gives voice to the stories no one knows from vulnerable women and children lost among us in plain sight. This important work reminds us that change comes when we open minds and lead with our hearts.
— Hope Frye, executive director, Project Lifeline, Lead Flores Monitor

Bousier presents the human reality as part of the immigration crisis in the United States. Through personal encounters with families seeking asylum and thorough research, she outlines what she believes to be some of the root causes of migration and the many challenges families face during their journeys to the U.S.
— Norma Pimentel, executive director, Catholic Charities, Rio Grande Valley

Features

Includes several photos of families seeking asylum as well as drawings children have done depicting how scared they are to possibly be removed from their parents.
- Expertly documented overviews of current and recent U.S. immigration policies including the Trump Administration’s “Operation Streamline” to give the reader context on the complexities and injustices of these policies.
- Interviews with humanitarian aid workers who offer hope and aid to the asylum seekers
- Documented conversations from families seeking asylum in the U.S. and what their struggles have been under new U.S policies.

Desperately Seeking Asylum

Testimonies of Trauma, Courage, and Love

Helen T. Boursier

Desperately Seeking Asylum

Testimonies of Trauma, Courage, and Love

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