Ola is a 28-year-old Black man who came to the United States seeking asylum due to the conditions in his home country, Mauritania (officially, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania). Mauritania, a country in West Africa, is largely discriminatory against their Black population. Despite the fact that slavery was criminalized in Mauritania in 2007, it still exists, and Ola was born into a line of Black Haratin slaves. In Mauritania, Ola experienced systemic discrimination and persecution, unable to own land or to access education, for instance, as a function of his race. He was also the victim of racially-motivated physical violence, occurring on multiple occasions. In one of these attacks, Ola recalled that his aggressors taunted him and harassed him with racial slurs. One of the men slashed him with a pocket knife, leaving a scar on Ola’s forearm. Thankfully, Ola healed from this encounter, but he suffers from periodic nightmares and flashbacks about the incident.
Ola’s journey to the United States wasn’t easy, and his acculturation process has been challenging too. He’s experienced an array of mental health symptoms related to his experiences in Mauritania and attempting to acclimate to a new place, culture, and reality. When he first arrived to the U.S., Ola experienced significant depression. While immigration was all he ever wanted, and while he felt physically safer in the States, he didn’t anticipate how lonely he’d feel, how much he’d miss his family and friends, and how much he’d fear for an uncertain future. As a result of his mental health symptoms, he missed the one-year filing deadline for asylum applications. When this happens, immigrants can lose their asylum application eligibility.
In the U.S., Ola is living in New York City and working with an immigration attorney to process his asylum application. He’ll have to go in front of a judge in immigration court to justify why he missed the one-year filing deadline and to document how the violence and discrimination he experienced as a result of his race has impacted him. He’ll make a case for how being forced to return to Mauritania could subject him to additional dangers.
Asylum applications can only be filed by folks who are already in the United States. According to the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, they can be filed by those who have experienced, or fear they will experience, persecution based on the following:
- Race
- Religion
- Nationality
- Membership in a particular social group
- Political opinion
The asylum application, also know as an I-589, includes questions such as:
- Have you, your family, your close friends or colleagues ever experienced harm or mistreatment or threats in the past by anyone?
- Do you fear harm or mistreatment if you return to your home country?
- Are you afraid of being subjected to torture in your home country or any other country to which you may be returned?
A factor that can significantly strengthen an asylum case is a psychological evaluation. This evaluation documents signs and symptoms of trauma, anxiety, depression, and other mental health diagnoses. The evaluation also explores the impact of oppression on the mental status and psychological functioning of the immigrant. Those seeking asylum often suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, and more. Struggling with these disorders can help explain why someone would not want to return to their country of origin, where continued persecution is likely, and how they might miss an important filing deadline.Â
At Gatewell, we offer comprehensive immigration evaluations*, including asylum evaluations. Our process for working with those seeking asylum includes several hours of assessment, relying on both interview and self-report components. We assess for signs and symptoms of discrimination, oppression, depression, anxiety, and more. Following the assessment, we are able to provide a detailed affidavit in support of an asylum application. With our asylum evaluations, immigrants like Ola have a greater chance of being able to maintain their status in the United States, remaining in a country that can offer freedom from persecution, as well as greater rights, opportunities. and care for their mental health concerns.
*We are currently able to complete immigration evaluations in person in our Coral Gables, New York, and Greenwich, CT offices and via Zoom via Zoom for immigrants in the following states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas,California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.