Individuals from all over the country venture to the United States for a wide variety of reasons. For some, this is for a vacation, while others seek to work in the country temporarily or long-term. In some instances, foreign residents enter the U.S. with the hope that it could save them from harm and persecution in their home country. In these instances, foreign nationals come to America in order to claim asylum, which is a legal status in the U.S. that allows an immigrant to remain in the country because they have a genuine fear of being harmed if they return to their homeland.
According to recent reports, this is the situation a young man from Singapore went through in Illinois. The 18-year-old man is a blogger in Singapore who has spent time in jail because of the online posts he made mocking and criticizing the government in Singapore. Back in December, he left the country with the intent of seeking asylum in the U.S.
However, upon arriving at the O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, he was detained by federal immigration agents. Since then, he has been behind bars waiting for a ruling by the immigration court ever since. Just recently, however, the young many just received notification that the Board of Immigration Appeals has upheld the decision of the Chicago Immigration judge back in March.
The judge’s ruling was that the teenage blogger form Singapore does have a well-founded fear that his own government would persecute him if her returned to Singapore. Now that he has asylum status, the young man will be able to apply for a green card in a year.
Obtaining a legal status for immigrants coming into the U.S. is important. This does not only allow the individual to remain in the country legally on a temporary or permanent basis, it provides the individual certain rights. Thus, it is important to understand U.S. immigration laws and obtain assistance applying the to you situation. This could help you avoid deportation or unfavorable decision in immigration court.
