From Persecution to Prison - Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of ...

national airlines are government-run. Thus, employees of these airlinesmight be perceived by asylum seekers as being loyal to the governmentfrom which they are fleeing, and therefore not to be trusted with criticalinformation.Most of the asylum seekers interviewed for this study (66%) reportedthat they felt their right to asylum was not adequately explained to themat the airport. The majority (63%) also recalled that they did not feeltreated in a respectful manner at the time of arrival in the United States.Two thirds of the study participants (67%) indicated that they were notinformed where they were being taken when they were being transportedto the detention centers.Although the study participants typically reported being given adequatefood, water and access to restrooms while at the airport, 67% reportedhaving been handcuffed and/or shackled upon their arrival in the UnitedStates for a median length of 12 hours (range .25 to 48 hours).Twenty seven percent of the participants recalled having been stripand/or body cavity searched and 40% reported experiencing verbal abuseand/or foul language while at the airport. Six individuals (9%) reportedexperiencing physical abuse while at the airport, although some detaineesindicated that they considered strip or body cavity searches to constitutephysical abuse.NARRATIVESWelcome to the United StatesAfter arriving in the US, many asylum seekers reported encountering notjust an indifferent bureaucracy, but often hostile immigration officersaffirmatively denying them rights. One asylum seeker who reported havingbeen imprisoned and tortured in his country or origin, and who wassubsequently granted asylum in the US, but only after being in US jails anddetention centers for more than three years, described the following treatmentby INS officers at the airport:They shouted ‘Go back to your country! What do you want here? Youdon’t belong here – mother fuckers come here - go home and die in yourcountry.“You’re crazy; you will have to go back to your fucking country,”another asylum seeker reported he was told by an airport immigrationofficial. “I was surprised to be treated like this in the USA, a countrywhich fights for human rights.”An INS officer reportedly told another asylum seeker, “Why come toAmerica for asylum? I don’t care about you. I can do anything I like toyou’… “I cried when she said that,” stated the asylum seeker.ARRIVAL IN THE UNITED STATES 139