Palestinians quest for US refuge: A 'Kafkaesque nightmare' under Trump

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: The Guardian
Today 09:59

Despite the ongoing humanitarian crisis, the US has scarcely accepted any refugees from Gaza, offering limited assistance to those fleeing the Israeli genocide.

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Palestinians walk past the al-Nuseirat Bakery, destroyed in an Israeli airstrike, in the Nuseirat refugee camp Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (AP)

A recent article by The Guardian highlights the stark challenges Palestinians face in seeking refuge in the US, despite the country resettling more refugees this year than in any other year since 1995. However, the US has accepted barely any refugees from Gaza since the outset of the Israeli genocide, claiming the lives of tens of thousands, displacing millions, and leaving entire communities starving and devastated.

The article sheds light on the growing disconnect between the scale of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the limited support offered by the US to those seeking refuge.

Due to a severely backlogged asylum system, it is unlikely that any Palestinians being forced to flee Gaza over the past 14 months due to the Israeli war have had their requests approved. In the US, refugee status and asylum are distinct processes; refugees generally apply from abroad, while asylum seekers do so within the country.

Adding fuel to the fire

The situation is expected to worsen. Donald Trump has pledged to bar refugees from Gaza and expand his Muslim travel ban. He also plans to carry out mass deportations, and his allies have promised to target pro-Palestine protesters. The few Palestinians from Gaza who have made it to the US may soon see their pathways closed off once Trump assumes office.

Claiming persecution beyond 'Israel': A path to refugee status

To qualify for asylum or refugee status, applicants must demonstrate that they face persecution based on factors like religion, political opinion, or nationality. Immigrant rights advocates argue that Palestinians from Gaza should qualify for these reasons, given the severity of the violence they face. However, in practice, they often need to show persecution by someone other than "Israel".

Mike Casey, a US diplomat who resigned from the office of Palestinian affairs in occupied al-Quds, explained to The Guardian that he helped one Palestinian resettle in the US after the person alleged he was at risk for working with the US government. However, they couldn't base their claim on the violence from Israeli bombardments.

"If I tried to justify it saying they can’t go back to Gaza because of Israeli threats, it would have never been approved," Casey said.

Many immigration attorneys confirm this point, stating that claims involving Israeli state violence face a higher burden of proof. "Their asylum claims require a higher burden of proof," said Amira Ahmed, an immigration attorney with Project Immigration Justice for Palestinians.

A State Department spokesperson shared that 140 Palestinians have been resettled in the US over the past five years, with 31 in the year since the war on Gaza began. These refugees mostly came from Iraq and Turkey, and some from Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan.

"Asylum applicants are required to submit a written statement that relates to the claim of asylum," a USCIS spokesperson noted, confirming that Palestinians in the US can apply for asylum.

Palestine is 'unknown' for US

Despite making up one of the largest refugee groups globally, Palestinians have faced a unique bureaucratic struggle since the Israeli occupation of their land in 1948.

In the US, refugees resettled from Palestine are classified with "unknown" as their country of origin in USCIS data, with a note that it "includes admissions from the Palestinian Territories." A 2018 memo obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request reveals that only those born before 1948 can list Palestine as their country of birth and citizenship.

Others born in "Israel" or the occupied territories are designated with countries like Egypt, Jordan, Israel, or Syria. For example, Palestinians born in Gaza are listed as born in Egypt, while those born in the occupied West Bank are categorized as coming from Jordan. "The US immigration system is systemic and intentional in its exclusion of Palestinians," said Ban Al-Wardi, an immigration attorney and coordinator of Project IJP as quoted by The Guardian.

Palestinians are the only refugee group served by a dedicated UN agency, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which provides services like education, healthcare, and food. Established in 1949 to support Palestinians forced out of their land following the Israeli occupation, UNRWA was initially intended to be a temporary solution for a temporary situation. However, while UNRWA plays a critical role for Palestinian refugees, it does not have the authority to resettle them. Only the UNHCR, which handles all other refugees, has that authority. This leaves Palestinians largely excluded from the international refugee system established after World War II.

"Palestinians, I would argue, have never had the right to return to their homes and live in dignity, but they’ve also never had the right to go onward and seek asylum," stated Maria Kari, a Houston-based human rights attorney and co-founder of the Gaza Family Project, which aids Americans trying to rescue their family members in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Amira Ahmed, an immigration attorney based in San Francisco who works with Project Immigration Justice for Palestinians (IJP), a collective of hundreds of immigration attorneys volunteering to help families get their loved ones out of Gaza, told The Guardian that the International Court of Justice has determined that there is a "plausible" risk of genocide in Gaza, while a US district court judge has stated that "it is plausible that Israel's actions could constitute genocide."

“If a group is facing something on the scale of genocide,” she said, “whether you conclude it or not as a matter of law, most certainly they can be said to be facing persecution.”