** Photo and details used with permission of the individual.
“Imagine you are alone in a jungle, being chased by wild animals,” Stephen says. “And you come into a clearing with a hut. A man shouts to you from the door of his hut, ‘Come into my house to escape this danger. I’ll protect you.‘
But then as you try to enter the hut, the man says, ‘Okay, wait – you can only enter into my hut as far as your head.‘ So then, your head is in safety, but the rest of your body is still outside, exposed to the wild animals who want to eat you… This is what the US asylum process is like.”
“I don’t see any government support for asylum seekers in the US,” Stephen continues. “For anyone who declares asylum seeker status, you are on your own. You are rejected. You can’t work. You don’t have a work permit. You’re already fleeing from danger, you basically ran for your life, you come with nothing, and then in the country where you seek protection, there’s nothing to help you.
“For asylum seekers who have traveled thousands of miles, a safe place to stay is the most important thing. This is what I would say to the US government: Let the whole person in.“
All the asylum-seeking individuals who come to IAFR Jonathan House experience the same obstacles as Stephen did: legal restrictions that unnecessarily keep them in a place of extreme vulnerability and dependence while they seek safety from the persecution or trauma they have fled.
Security, the first item on IAFR’s Continuum of Response, is crucial to helping an individual survive and recover from forced displacement. Without access to security, refugees will not be able to survive.
For asylum seekers who have traveled thousands of miles, a safe place to stay is the most important thing.
Stephen, Jonathan House resident
IAFR Jonathan House steps into the gap so asylum-seeking individuals are protected from outside dangers while they seek asylum in the US. In Stephen’s words, we ‘let the whole person in.’
“Thankfully, I didn’t have to be on the street. I could be on the street if not for Jonathan House,” he says. “With shelter, I have actually been able to move forward. My stress and worry-level decreased.”
Since coming to Jonathan House, Stephen has received asylum, giving him the crucial promise of security that he will not be sent back to persecution and personal danger. He has dedicated himself to learn computer coding so that he can now get a job to rebuild his life here in the US. He is also motivated to use his own sense of security to politically advocate for those still trapped in war and danger in his country of origin.
Through your partnership with IAFR Jonathan House, you make a life-changing impact for change-makers like Stephen by ‘letting the whole person in.’ You help provide security to our asylum-seeking neighbors by making sure they have access to safe, stable shelter.