The Daily - The Narrowing Path to Asylum

Episode Date: June 14, 2018

The Trump administration has said that domestic abuse is no longer grounds for receiving permission to stay in the United States. We share one asylum seeker’s story. Guest: Mariam, a survivor of domestic violence who arrived in the United States from Burkina Faso, and who asked not to be identified by her real name. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.This episode includes disturbing language and scenes of graphic violence.

From The New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. Today, the Trump administration says that domestic abuse is no longer a basis for granting asylum in the United States. What that policy looks like to one victim. What that policy looks like to one victim. It's Thursday, June 14th. The United States of America is not some idea.

It's not just a landmass or an economy. Ours is a sovereign nation, nation-state, with a constitution, laws, elections, borders. And as you all well know, one of our major difficulties today is the asylum process. The asylum system is being abused to the detriment of the rule of law, sound public policy, public safety even, and to the detriment of people with just claims to asylum. On Monday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions went before a group of federal immigration judges to address a decision made under President Obama. Powerful incentives were created for aliens to come here illegally and claim fear of return. In effect, word spread that by asserting this fear, they could remain in the United States

one way or the other, and far too often that rumor proved correct. too often that rumor proved correct. In 2014, a ruling based on Obama's more progressive immigration policies allowed asylum seekers to cite the threat of domestic violence as the basis for asylum if they were coming from countries where their governments would not protect them. The results are just what one would expect. The number of illegal entrants has surged, credible fear claims have skyrocketed, and the percentage of asylum claims found to be meritorious by our judges has declined significantly. On Monday, Sessions said he would end that approach. Now we all know that many of those crossing the border illegally are leaving difficult, even dangerous conditions. And we understand that

all are due proper respect in court and the proper legal process. But we cannot abandon legal discipline and sound legal concepts. So just sit naturally, like you're going to sit during the interview, and I'm going to move this towards you, and then Jess, you'll let me know how things sound. Can you talk a little bit? Yeah, tell us what you had for breakfast. Cereal and bananas. What kind of cereal?

I'll call him. I almost said cereal, but I decided to have toast. No problem. I'm really grateful that you came in here, so thank you very much. You're welcome. What should I call you? What name would you like us to use? Mariam. Mariam. Tell me about where you're from.

I'm from Burkina Faso. It's a little country in the middle of Nigeria, Ghana, Mali, Benito. So West Africa. Ivory Coast, yes, in West Africa. We speak French. And tell me a little bit about your family in Burkina Faso. What was your family like? It's a big family. It's a family of 11 people. Yes, and we have a lot of cousins and aunts, uncles. We love each other. We live like a family. And everybody knows everybody and know their stories. Yep.

So no secrets. No secrets. You cannot hide something, dear. Everybody knows everything about anyone. And what did you do for fun when you were growing up? For fun, I like to sing gospel. To sing gospel? Yep. So Christian music.

Christian music, yeah. When you were growing up, did you have a favorite song in French that you sang? In French? Yes. What was that song? Inia Couture Seigneur. It's only you, Jesus. It's only you, Jesus?

Yeah. This song, we sing it at church, every service, before the prayer starts, we sing it. When I'm singing that, I remember all my suffering. When I was back at home, when I was singing that, I was in tears. But now when I sing that, I remember all the good things that God did for me. I want to hear the story about your suffering, as you said. And I wonder where that

story begins. This story begins in like 2005 when I met. When you were 18? 17, 18, yes. When I met a 2005 when I met. When you were 18? 17, 18, yes. When I met a guy, I met him because he's not far from my house. And every time that I'm going to school, he was there.

And every time I'm passing, I say hello. You'd wave to him. So you made eye contact. Yep. Yes. And we started dating. He said that he loved me. And he started giving me and my friend little gifts.

Sometimes he bought us cookies, Fanta, Coca. Fanta, the drink? Yes. And we were happy. We think that, yes, he's a good person. He's the right person. He wanted me to be, us together to be more. I was pregnant.

You become pregnant? Yes, I become pregnant. He went to pay a dowry to my family. It's silver and money. He paid it, and when he paid it, I moved to his house. Why is the dowry important? The dowry symbolizes like you are not for your family anymore. You are for the guy because he paid you his belonging.

And when they give your dowry, your parents don't have any word to say anymore. You can say like he's buying you. And I moved there. And when I moved to his house, I found out that he was married. He has another lady, but the lady left. And he was two kids in the house. And I was supposed to take care of the kids and his family.

And are you okay with that? Yes, because the kids were sweet. They're very nice. They don't have bad attitude and because they miss their mom when they see me, they took me like a mom. And we were good together.

Yes. It sounds like you love him. Yes, before I loved him. Before? Yeah. When we started living together, I realized that he was not kind. He was not kind. Every time he liked to fight and he liked to watch football.

And when the team didn't win, the day he made problems, he like to drink every time he make problems. Like humiliating me in front of his friend, in front of his mom, and nobody says nothing. It's telling me bad words sometimes. And it's telling me that I'm fat,

I'm so ugly, because this time I was pregnant and I cannot take care of myself like before. That sounds awful. Mm-hmm. It was awful. Do you remember the first time that he became violent with you? When I start saying no, it's why he start beating me.

Firstly, I took that as normal. But after it was too much, he can beat me and he see the blood, he don't stop. He draws blood and doesn't stop? Yes, he doesn't stop to beat me. How often was this happening in a given week? Four times, three times a week. Yes. Anything make him angry.

And I didn't want to go, but he's forcing me. He said that, what I think that he paved a doorway to. He paved a doorway because of that. I cannot live in his house and eating the food and don't want to agree with that. That is because of that he paid the dowry. So he's saying that you must have sex with him. Yes, because he paid the dowry for that. I'm not his sister.

So he's forcing you to do this. Yes, he's forcing me. And that dowry, that means to you that you cannot leave? You can't because if you leave, your family will not be happy with you. And it will be a shame in the town. Everybody will be speaking about you. And maybe he can come to the family and tell the family that you are not here, he need another woman.

So he could then seek out another member of your family. Because you guys take his dowry. Yes. So if you leave, you might inflict that on somebody else you love in your family. Yes, because they still have the dowry. Wow. Yes, because they still have a daughter. Mariam, when was the first time that you felt that your life might be in danger in this marriage? When I felt that my life would be in danger is when I lost my baby.

You have a miscarriage. Yes. We fight one night. He beat me everywhere and I was sick. And three days later, I see the blood and everything. It's that time that I realized that if I can lost my baby, I can lost my life. And one night we fight and when we started fighting

he was screaming. He was screaming? Yes. And when we went to the kitchen and he took the knife, I thought he was playing because since we fight, he never took a knife every time he's a belt or his shoes.

And I thought that it was a game, a joke. He wanted to scare me, but he stabbed my back twice. He stabbed you in the back? Yes, twice. And after the hospital, we went back home. I told him, go away. I don't want to go with you anymore. It's finished. And now- You went to your- My parents' house. This was it for you? Yes.

I said, I'm not going. You can do anything that you want, but I'm not going anymore. And one night, we were sleeping in the house. I was sleeping, me and my two little sisters. Because our bed

is three people can sleep here. And one or two o'clock in the morning, he came with his big truck. He entered in my bedroom. The truck took the bed and dropped us to the wall. The roof collapsed. He drives the truck into the bedroom. Yes, the truck into my bedroom, yes. Were you injured?

Yes. This is a serious crime. This is that. My leg and my sister's, she said that she couldn't breathe anymore. And my dad called the police at this time. And the police did everything, the measure, everything. We went to the hospital. And the police do say that it's because I'm not respectful.

I have to be humble. I have to respect my husband. If I'm not respecting my husband, it's what happened. My dad tried to call the insurance people too. The insurance said that it's a family problem. Police do say that it's a family problem. We have to deal with that. Everyone's telling you that it's your problem.

So you've left the house at this point. You've gone to the police. What else is there left for you to do? I didn't have nothing to do anymore. Because my country is too small. You cannot hide something from nobody in my country. I went to my uncle and my uncle said that you cannot stay there. Even in Africa, you cannot stay.

That you have to leave. You have to leave. And I applied for the visa to United States. Why the United States? United States because United States will Why the United States? United States because United States will protect me more. I was watching on the TV the movies. There's a show that they call

Cosby. It was a black family. The Cosby show? Yes. And he was respecting the lady every time. And I see how men respect ladies. It's why I said that this is my dream. It's this kind of life I needed.

I wanted, it was my dream. And I said that this is the perfect place to be safe. So where do you first arrive in the United States? I took the plane and I arrived at JFK in New York. Okay. In Queens. When we arrived at JFK, we arrived at the immigration services and because

my English was bad, I didn't speak English, I said, no, no, go back. Stay. No more Burkina Faso. You were telling them that... No, I'm not going back. You want to stay here. Yes. I was requesting like asylum.

Asylum. So you're asking... Yes. You're asking for protection from the U.S. You're asking for asylum and they understand this. Yes. And where do you go next? Went to a small room where a lot of people come like police.

They come now starting to speak with me. I was scared. You were scared. I was scared that they will send me back. Forced me to go to the plane. But a guy came and asked me questions. And I end up in detention in Newark. You ask for asylum and they take you to a detention facility. Yes, to detention. Yes, it was scary. So at this point, you've come to the United States on a tourist visa.

You have asked for asylum. You're brought to a detention center. Yes. How do you feel at this point? I feel very sad. No French-speaking person was there. At this point, you don't speak very much English, the way you do now. No, it's them that were teaching me. And one Jamaican girl,

she was teaching me very well. So other women in detention are starting to teach you English? Yes, to teach me English. And they teach us songs to sing. What song do they teach you to sing? I was singing, God will make a way for me. God will make a way singing God Will Make a Way for Me. God Will Make a Way. God Will Make a Way. Yes. Do you know the words of it? What are some of the words to the

song? God will make a way where the saints do make no way. He works in ways we cannot see. He works in ways we cannot see. He will make a way for me. He will be my guide. Hold me to all... No, I forget. You might be nervous because you're in front of a microphone. It's beautiful. It means my freedom.

We were singing that, all the ladies together every night before to pray. It's there, I learned it. So you're in this detention facility. You're waiting for the United States to decide whether or not you can stay, whether you can be granted asylum. What happened with your case? I stayed here six months. The first month that I arrived, I was able to get a lawyer, pro bono lawyer. He took my case and he told me that,

do you have your proof, your evidence? I said, I have everything in my suitcase. She said, wow, you plan it? I said, yes, I plan everything. I have all the proof in my suitcase. And I have to show them all my scars in my body. And when we went to court, they granted me the asylum. Wow. What does your life look like now in the U.S., Maryam? I don't have to worry about nothing now. Since I'm here, nobody never slapped me or tell me bad thing.

It's sometimes on the metro, people say, oh, fuck you, something like that. It's only on the metro. And even it's the metro from New York. In New Jersey, nobody never told me that. That's just life in New York, I guess. I'm very happy. I'm going to school now. I want to improve my English.

And when I will be able to speak good English, I will help all the organization fighting again. Domestic violence. You want to help other women? I will help other women. Is there anything that has surprised you about life in America? Anything that has made you laugh? Yes, a lot of things make me laugh.

Like what? When I see men taking care of kids here, like rolling the stroller, it makes me laugh. Because in Africa, no way. And sometimes I explain to my friend in Africa, they say, oh my God, don't tell me that. Yes, when I explain to them. Don't tell me that men do that. Yeah, they are very surprised. Yes. And have you met anybody here? Have you gotten close to anybody? eyes. Yes. And have you met anybody here? Have you gotten close to anybody? Yes. I'm in love now. Yes. I didn't know that I can be in love again, but it starts again. I met him on TJ Maxx.

At TJ Maxx? Yes. I went to shop and he came to shop and he was speaking French. I speak French too. And we start like this. And how long have you been dating him? Almost one year, six months. Wow. Yep. We talk, we laugh. We're going to restaurants to watch movies.

Yes. One night, we wanted to hang out. I like to wear long pants and dresses to cover myself because I don't want nobody to see my wounds. But he's telling me, don't worry. Leave that. I like it. No problem. You don't have to hide everything.

He accept my story. He knows everything what happened. And he accept it. So he understands. He accept my story. He knows everything what happened. And he accept it. So he understands. Yes, he understand. Mariam, I wonder what would you have done if you hadn't been able to stay in the United States? I know that with this guy, I would lose my life if I didn't get to stay here. And I would put all my family in danger.

If you'd been sent back, you believe you would be dead. Yes. It was out of control. America was the way. Like we said, God can make the way. It's America. Because God walk in a ways. I think that this way is America, was America.

And if America want to close this way, I don't know where we will go. You can imagine what will happen. Miriam, I really want to thank you. You're welcome. You're very welcome. Thank you. Yes, and I'm sorry that my English. You're welcome. You're very welcome. Thank you. Yes, and I'm sorry that my English is not good because it's my second language. Your English is very good.

To explain more than that, but I don't have the words. You have the words. That's why I don't have the words. You really do. Yeah. Do you still think about that time with your with your husband does it come back to you yes it comes back to me anytime that i remember africa or i look my wounds i remember him he cannot pass away, but I try to forget, but a lot of things made me remember.

And how do you deal with it when you think about it, when you look at your scars and you think about him? I think it's about the new life. I don't want to remember just this anymore. I think about the freedom now that I have, and I'm thankful to that. And every time that I'm sad, I'm singing. God will make a way where there seems to be no way. He works in ways we cannot see. He will make a way for me.

He will be my guide. Hold me closely to His side. With love and strength for each new day. He will make a way. He will make a way. We'll be right back. Here's what else you need to know today. On Wednesday, amid growing criticism of the agreement he signed with Kim Jong-un,

President Trump declared that North Korea is, quote, no longer a nuclear threat. Everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office, Trump wrote. In South Korea, Trump's Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, was asked how the U.S. could verify that North Korea had destroyed its nuclear weapons, something that wasn't specified in Trump's agreement with Kim. Pompeo replied that the question is, quote, insulting and ridiculous and, frankly, ludicrous. That's it for The Daily.

I'm Michael Barbaro. See you tomorrow.