Birdsong's Law Blog

One of my Refugee Law students, Minoru Ohye, has written an interesting  and timely paper wherein he argues that the U.S. should end what has been come to be called the “Wet Foot Dry Foot” policy toward accepting Cuban refugees.  Mr. Ohye was born in Cuba and escaped from there with his family as a boy.  He writes from a unique perspective. Read and learn…

Stopping Once and for All the Wet Foot Dry Foot Policy for Cuban refugees: a Student’s reasons

By Minoru Ohye

1. INTRODUCTION

“Yo soy un hombre sincero De donde crece la palma, Y antes de morirme quiero Echar mis versos del alma”[1]. This is the first stanza of the famous poem by Jose Marti, the apostle of Cuban independence. Loosely translated, I am an honest man, and before I die, I wish to speak of what is in my soul^[2]. In my soul, I carry the weight of centuries of injustice suffered by the people of Cuba. Much like Jose Marti, whose life ended in an ill-fated two-man suicide charge against the Spanish troops ^[3], with this article I seek to “charge” against what I see as the latest injustice to be suffered by the Cuban people… the wet foot dry foot policy of the Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act. The Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act has been the subject of much debate. Some seek to preserve it while others seek to repeal it. This article will propose the use of the Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act as it was originally intended… to offer protection to those seeking to flee the Castro regime, but also used as a cohesive part of the overall United States policy toward Cuba

         There have been numerous newspaper articles, books, magazines, and indeed even Law review articles written both in support and in opposition of the CCA[4]. The one thing that sets me apart from a vast majority of those authors is that today I am a naturalized Citizen of the United States because of the Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act.  I am a Gusano, a worm. That is a term, intended to be

Most of us know little about North Korea.  However over the recent holiday period we learned that  North Korea’s leader,  Kim Jong Il, died after seventeen years of ruling over his impoverished country. His youngest son, Kim Jong Un has now taken over power.

My refugee seminar student, Jessica Smith, has written and interesting and timely study about North Korea and it’s refugee problem.  Read it and learn.

Escaping the Scariest Place on Earth: How the United States Has Helped and Hindered the North Korean Refugee Situation

By: Jessica M. Smith[1]

1. I.                   Introduction:

It seems odd that a Communist country, which has its fair share of asylum seekers to the United States, would be seeing an influx of refugees but that is the current case for China. Geographically speaking, North Korea is an isolated nation, which makes migration to countries other than China and South Korea a virtual impossibility. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has used this isolation to his benefit in order to enslave his people in work camps and has been able to censor the media to such an extreme that many North Koreans are unaware that a man has walked on the moon.[1] North and South Korea have been separated by a heavily guarded DMZ line where those who attempt to defect from North Korea will be shot on sight. Logically speaking, the “easiest” way for North Korean defectors is to escape into China. However, as China is bursting at the seams with over a billion citizens and has implemented a one child per family policy, coupled with the added pressure of not upsetting fellow comrade Kim Jong Il, those lucky North Korean defectors who make their way into China have a strong possibility of being sent back to North Korea.

China labels these North Korean defectors as “economic migrants” so they are not

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=e54e60f64f336210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e54e60f64f336210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

The following Birdsong thoughts on anlayzing persecution in asylum claims may  be useful to students in the Barry Law Refugee and Asylum Law seminar.

   PROBLEMS IN ADJUDICATIONS

A.     Persecution

            Problems and inconsistencies prevail in asylum adjudications for a number of reasons, including lack of definition for certain statutory words.  Under both asylum and withholding of deportation, the claimant must show that she has been “persecuted” in the past or will be “persecuted” in the future if forced to return to the country of origin.[1] Unfortunately, the statutes do not offer a definition of “persecution.”[2]  The Ninth Circuit has utilized a broad definition of persecution as: “the infliction of suffering or harm upon those who differ…in a way regarded as offensive.[3]