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Opinion: The U.S. asylum system gave me safe haven. It pains me to see families turned away.

Immigrants
(BARRIE MAGUIRE NEWSART
)

Thankfully, many organizations are fighting for basic rights and calling on President Joe Biden to rebuild the broken asylum systems in this country.

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Nuaimi is a community activist and former asylee from Baghdad, Iraq. He lives in Carmel, Indiana.

My road to asylum in the U.S. in 2014 was a journey that would change my entire life. After leaving my childhood home in Baghdad behind in search of safety due to the lack of security in Iraq, I constantly asked myself how I could start again from scratch in a new country, with a new culture and a new language. How could I rebuild my life after it was shattered after years of living in a war zone and build a strong, secure future?

In the years since that fateful move that first landed me in San Diego, I have found the answers to those questions — but they are less straightforward than I had hoped. I faced many challenges as I rebuilt my life and worked to successfully resettle, like learning the language and accent to help people understand and connect with me; dealing with stereotypes of Arabs I hadn’t realized existed; and mastering the new technology that I encountered at every corner.

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As an asylee, I was able to access some assistance from a nonprofit organization on my road to integration and self-sufficiency, including job searching and budgeting. I also learned that a person granted asylum in the U.S. is protected from being returned to their home country, and can petition to bring family members to the U.S.

Having left behind everything I knew, all I wanted was to live where my family and I would be safe and able to pursue our dreams.

I learned the true meaning of freedom when I moved to this country, and grew to understand the role and responsibility of being an active U.S. citizen. Today, I have built a community and life that I always dreamed of having. My success in this new life is partially attributable to my own persistence and ability to use humor to connect with my new neighbors — but that was only made possible thanks to the safe haven the U.S. asylum system gave me when I needed it most. That is why it pains me to see so many families in similar situations to mine be turned away, never having the opportunity to truly thrive in a safe and welcoming environment.

The people seeking asylum at our borders today are no different than I was all those years ago. Although forced to flee our homes due to factors out of our control, we remain hopeful, ready to embrace our new communities and begin anew. The biggest challenge facing any asylum seeker in any country is that of building networks, local experiences and productive achievements, which will lead to positive integration.

One of the ways I contribute to this land is with a Facebook group I created in 2016 to help asylees who do not have adequate support. My goal is to work as a bridge between the asylees and service providers, including the federal government, filling informational and cultural gaps for new arrivals so they have a smoother resettlement process than I did.

But I cannot fix the broken asylum system single-handedly. For four long years, the Trump administration fostered hateful and xenophobic anti-immigrant narratives, and threatened the safety and survival of refugees and asylum seekers with policies like the Migrant Protection Protocols and Safe Third Country agreements.

Thankfully, many organizations are fighting for basic rights and calling on President Joe Biden to rebuild the broken asylum systems in this country. For example, We Are All America and its partners launched the Opportunity for All campaign, led by former refugees, asylees and immigrants, designed to shift social, political and economic conditions so that refugees like me can achieve their full potential and ensure America remains a nation of opportunity.

Now that the Biden administration has rescinded some of the most destructive bans and policies implemented under the previous administration and is preparing to increase refugee resettlement numbers, the America we know and love seems to be coming back to life. However, there is still much work to do to ensure asylum seekers are protected.

As the world changes, our responses to asylum seekers must as well. The U.S. must live up to its values and legal responsibility to allow people to seek refuge in our nation, as well as its moral duty to welcome new Americans with open arms by investing in welcoming infrastructure and services. As Biden said in a speech at a joint session of Congress, America is an idea. It is an idea built on a legacy of welcome and justice for all. Let us nurture that idea, and rebuild the bridges of humanity in this blessed nation of diversity and hope.

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