Wann: Dienstag, 13. November 2018, 16:00 Uhr - 18:00 Uhr
Wo: IH Foyer, International House (Marktplatz 7, 85072 Eichstätt)
Abstract:
The current moment is a flashpoint in the history of asylum in the US, a time when immigration officials and advocates for refugees frame the issue in diametrically opposed ways, ways that also invoke divergent interpretations of the American past. In a recent speech to immigration judges, the U.S. Attorney General argued that the vast majority of asylum claims are meritless and dilatory; sympathy for asylum seekers, he said, does "violence to the rule of law and constitutional fabric" that "made this country so great in the first place." In contrast, refugee advocates point to actual violence forcing asylum seekers to migrate. Advocates also point to innovative interpretations of laws and amendments to the U.S. Constitution that have helped expand rights and opportunities and make America great. This lecture will address other flashpoints from the past century when conflicts over asylum reflected opposing views of American identity and history. It will do so through analysis of prominent court cases that highlight contestation over how to define "fear of persecution" and the parameters of American refuge. It will also emphasize the limits of exceptionalist frameworks for understanding how fear and fraud figure in asylum seeking.