LGBT Asylum & The New York Times
By Steve Ralls on 02/07/2011 @ 12:38 PM
On January 29th, The New York Times ran a hotly debated article on LGBT asylum issues. As part of its coverage, the paper insinuated that, for LGBT asylum seekers, securing safe haven in the United States can be a daunting task that includes, among other things, immigration requests that potential aylees show visible evidence of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The article also went on to report a trend among straight immigrants to secure asylum by falsely claiming to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.
This morning, Immigration Equality and Human Rights First - an allied organization also quoted in the article - responded to the Times editor, pointing out that the January story does not reflect the reality of most asylum cases handled by our attorneys.
Our full, joint statement reads:
To the Editor:
Re “Gays Seeking Asylum in U.S. Encounter a New Hurdle” (news article, Jan. 29):
While we appreciate your coverage of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender asylum seekers, the article is not consistent with our experience in several ways.
Each year, Immigration Equality and Human Rights First provide legal representation to hundreds of asylum seekers, and our legal team and pro bono lawyers win safe haven for most of these individuals.
In our experience, however, it is exceedingly rare for asylum seekers — whose families and home countries often stigmatize gay and transgender people — to present themselves falsely as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender to immigration officials. We have not seen an emerging trend of straight individuals claiming to be gay for immigration purposes.
Indeed, asylum seekers undergo rigorous evaluation by immigration officials to ensure that their claims are authentic. Nor have we seen a “new hurdle” for L.G.B.T. asylum seekers having to prove that they are “socially visible.” While there have been a few cases where adjudicators have demonstrated a bias in L.G.B.T. cases, we have found that most United States officials do their jobs, and verify claims made in asylum applications while respecting an individual’s identity as an L.G.B.T. person.
Until L.G.B.T. rights are respected around the world, asylum remains a lifeline for those fleeing persecution.
Victoria Neilson Lori Adams New York, Feb. 1, 2011
The writers are, respectively, legal director of Immigration Equality and staff attorney of the Refugee Protection Program, Human Rights First.
For more information on LGBT asylum, visit our website here. For news on our recent, record number of asylum wins on behalf of LGBT people, click here.
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