This week marks 27 years since the United Nations Convention Against Torture entered force: June 26 is proclaimed World Day Against Torture.
Sadly, impunity for the most egregious human rights crimes remains more rule than exception in many parts of the globe. Torturers who routinely get away with rape as a weapon, or the brutalization of perceived political opponents, give people little chance but to flee in order to survive.
For years, Maine has been a welcome haven for families seeking refuge from persecution. Most have settled here because of the sense of safety Maine can offer. If your world has been split apart by political violence, what more serene place to start life over again?
There are hundreds, probably thousands, of survivors of international torture living among us in Lewiston/Auburn. In my work as clinician with Tri-County Mental Health’s new Minds & Hearts in Harmony program for survivors of torture and their families, I have had the chance to witness the ongoing challenges faced by dozens of survivors in the L/A area.
Despite having endured severe traumatic experiences, most have been taking vital steps to forge a positive future for their families.
For those who entered the U.S. without official refugee status, an early challenge has been the arduous task of filing asylum applications. Clients have shared plans with me about subsequent steps they dream of taking to engage their new society.
One client’s comments just before Christmas were typical: “I want to prepare myself so I can give back to this place that has welcomed me.”
Hopes for participating fully in society seem perpetually in limbo, however, since asylum-seekers in Maine are waiting years for their claims to be heard.
In March, a woman here showed me a letter from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services telling her a court date she had waited several years for would be postponed from 2014 to 2019. Faced with such logjams en route to regularized immigration status, Maine’s asylum-seekers typically struggle simply to hold things together.
Political developments are not making it any easier — not when local airwaves echo degrading comments about so-called “illegals” dependent on state largess. Obstacles to legal employment that would confer self-sufficiency are scarcely addressed.
In recent months, even the process of securing a work permit — never mind finding a job — has ground to a standstill.
Current federal law states that people can file for employment authorization cards after waiting 150 days following USCIS receipt of their formal asylum claims. People have commonly gotten the cards a month later, enabling them to apply for a Social Security number. This sluggish process has slowed further of late.
A couple of weeks ago a U.S. Senate aide, handling constituent immigration matters, told me personally that asylum seekers should now anticipate waiting three to five months for work authorization — after the initial 150-day stay.
How do people find their way when blindfolded by such red tape?
A few months back, I concluded that the dignity afforded my asylum-seeking, torture-survivor clients by Lewiston’s general assistance program was the primary protective factor supporting their mental health. At least for a limited time, General Assistance has ensured safe apartments to live in, volunteer jobs to report to, and English classes helping them transition into a new culture.
It would be a travesty of justice for General Assistance benefits to be eliminated for asylum-seekers, just when it is becoming harder than ever to work legally.
Here in Maine we may not have the power to halt the spread of torture that propels people to flee terror in their homelands, and to come seeking safety among us. But we can certainly oppose a misguided tendency to deny people basic services once they are in our midst.
From my clinical perspective, General Assistance has proved an enormously effective investment in human dignity and well-being. The benefits that general assistance provides far exceed its costs.
In the spirit of the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, let’s honor the courage of those who have fled persecution by ensuring — not eliminating — General Assistance benefits to asylum-seekers here.
It’s the least we can do.
David Alan Harris is a clinician with the Minds and Hearts in Harmony program for survivors of torture and their families with the Tri-County Mental Health Services. He previously ran a torture rehabilitation program in Sierra Leone, West Africa, for the Minnesota-based Center for Victims of Torture.
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