The current administration is setting up new policies with the aim to address and reduce the Immigration Court Backlog. While both Asylum processes are important, individuals from all circumstances deserving of their right to apply, we are seeing a severe neglect of those in the Affirmative category.

We want to make sure that Affirmative Asylum Seekers are also NOT FORGOTTEN…or worse, end up negatively impacted by these new policies, or the “losers”, as Jason Dzubow of The Asylumnist, writes (read article below).

The majority of RIF’s clients are Affirmative Asylum Seekers and we want to make sure that their voices are heard as well.

A large majority of our members were professionals and highly educated. Due to their political opinion, activism, and identity such as being LGBTQ, they were targeted to the point that they had no choice but to flee their country. A choice that most, if not all, did not wish to make.

They fled to the US with the hope that they could secure protection for themselves and then bring over their loved ones, once their Asylum is granted. As they find themselves in the backlog that feels like an eternity, they fear they will be in a no man’s land forever.

Result: They are in total legal and emotional limbo. They cannot bring their loved ones until an asylum decision has been made, they are alone, separated from their children and spouses, not being able to give them any reassurance or often, resources.  Many of them enjoyed a good economic life standard before their persecution. In most cases, these people who once were Lawyers, Doctors, Journalists, etc, are now forced to work strenuous survival jobs just to make ends meet. The harm faced in their home countries has not only stolen a sense of safety from them but made them sacrifice their professional identities.

At RIF, we are inspired everyday by the incredible resilience of our community. 

While they were victims of persecution back home, and now of a broken immigration system in the US, they refuse to let the toil and sacrifice of this process overcome them. 

Instead, in spite of waiting endlessly years for a decision, many decide to use this time as productively as possible: getting professional training, educational opportunities, and securing community and support wherever they can find it.

They demonstrate incredible courage and resilience in a legal process that, very reasonably so, can make people feel defeated.

We at RIF feel privileged to help them to the finish line. USCIS addressing the Affirmative Backlog would mean reaching that finish line for so many, and we are going to do everything we can alongside the coalition of organizations who are pushing this campaign forward.

To hear about updates and the progress of the campaign, see our recent presentation:

If you’d like to learn how to help, please email us at info@rifnyc.org, and subscribe to our newsletter, as we will be giving regular updates of our progress.