Ex-court janitor granted asylum due to domestic abuse
6:14 PM Mon, Feb 02, 2009 | Permalink
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By Karen Lee Ziner PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Maira Farfán Maldonado, one of 31 janitors arrested during immigration raids on Rhode Island courthouses last July, has been granted asylum based on domestic abuse in her home country of Guatemala. While not precedent-setting, such asylum is unusual and much-debated. Andrea A. Saenz, a lawyer with the PAIR Project (Political Asylum/Immigration Representation) in Boston, represented Farfán at a Jan. 23 hearing. Saenz said medical records, a social worker's testimony, and letters stating Farfán's husband had ties to former members of paramilitary organizations, persuaded immigration Judge Francis L. Cramer that Farfán would be in peril if she was deported. Saenz and co-counsel Heather J. Friedman also made the case that Guatemala has a demonstrated indifference to domestic violence. They presented reports by the State Department and international organizations documenting that there have been "very few convictions for violence against women in Guatemala," and that "there is a societal attitude that this is the victim's fault, or it's a family matter." The beatings Farfán endured from her husband caused permanent injuries. He broke her ankle, sending her to the hospital for eight days; broke her skull; knocked out her teeth. He also set her possessions on fire. He rarely allowed her outside, and threatened to kill her if she left him, according to Farfán: those accounts were supported in letters from family and friends. In 2000, Farfán ran away and crossed the border illegally, leaving her mother and three children behind. Said Saenz, Farfán's claim "was based on years of extreme domestic violence that she was fleeing in Guatemala. It's an asylum that's a little bit unusual, and you never know how it's going to turn out." While many people think of asylum as politically or religiously based, "the asylum law allows anyone to seek protection if their government cannot protect them from persecution. And that would include, in this case, a country that has turned a blind eye to victims of domestic violence. We were able to document how her country would not be able to protect her if she were not able to go to police, or if she tried to leave her husband, who had made a number of death threats against her." Farfán is now officially an asylee, and has applied for a work permit that her new status entitles her. She will be able to apply for permanent residency in a year or two, and eventually, for citizenship. She said she is eager to find work, learn English, and live without fear. 
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So the entire country of Guatemala is unsafe for this person? Interesting.
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I guess with the logic evidenced in this case, we should expect the rest of the women now living in Guatemala who get to the USA (ILLEGALLY) will also be granted asylum.
Now, since most women in Muslim countries are also abused, we can expect a few million more to receive asylum? (Providing of course, that they can manage to sneak past our very loosely protected borders).
What fools we are to tolerate this. We don't have to worry about foreign terrorists. We have enough domestically grown cooks like Ms.Saenz that will do the deed.
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Oh, what a good idea! RI certainly has the money to welcome in and support every illegal non-taxpaying Guatemalan who says she is unsafe in her home country! And you wonder why readers don't take the Journal seriously. Why doesn't your reporter total up what each of these cases actually costs the state in dollars spent on health-care, court costs, school enrollment and all the other benefits of citizenship to which they don't contribute? It seems to me that there are enough sad stories of hard times out here -- among our state's own legal citizens -- that we don't need to cry over Guatemala.
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I am sick and tired of these sort of people getting asylum. Deport her. It is not the responsibility of the US taxpayer to support her or grant her citizenship so she can bring her whole family here. This is a bad decision. The judge should be removed from the bench for listening to the outrageous excuses presented by these lawyer who help flood the country with Third World Immigrants.
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I actually have no problem with this. I think that most illegal immigrants should be deported generally speaking but this (and others) are not your "typical" case. At least this person is willing to work and just as important (if not MORE so) willing to learn the language of the land!
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So now I suppose she will begin her very own immigrant chain by bringing her mother and three kids here.
How do we know we can believe these "letters" that support her claims? Unfortunately, illegal aliens are very quick to learn how to game the U.S. system. If they don't figure it out, plenty of "activists" will show them the scams to run.
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Wow. These comments show how extremist & hateful the anti-immigrant community has become, esp "David” who compares attorney Saenz to a terrorist. Anti-immigrant extremists have been rejected by mainstream America – even Republican party nominated John McCain, who’s hated by anti-immigrant groups for supporting legalization. Also, asylum is extremely difficult to win. The # of women who win these domestic violence asylum cases is tiny. And the US signed the refugee convention & passed the Refugee Act of 1980, committing to protect refugees/asylees like Maira. Think these refugees/asylees are a burden on society? ALBERT EINSTEIN was a refugee. The anti-immigrant extremists posting comments here probably would have had him deported back in the day if they were in charge.
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'The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 19:34
"So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 10:19
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The LAW allows any person present in the United States to apply for asylum. She followed the LAW, submitting an asylum application and established to a neutral judge she met the legal requirements in the LAW.
For the anti-immigrant xenophobes, your mantra is that people need to follow the law. Well this young lady did exactly that. So you are still not satisfied?
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Aside from the indigenous populations and the decedents of African slaves, who doesn't have an immigrant past?
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There are some really racist and anti-immigrant comments to this story. Birdsong teaches immigration law at Barry University Law School and wonders what these folks will say when they learn that there are a growing number of gay and lesbians obtaining asylum in the U.S. because they are persecuted in their home countriesas a result of their sexual orientation!
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Wow, I admire Ms. Farfan for willing to stablish legally in the US after having behind her children. It's true, she was an illegal, but that does not mean she is a criminal. She was caught WORKING as a janitor, a job most US born citizens dont like to do. So, what is the problem with all the haters? Why do you react like that? Millions of Third World Countries citizens come to the US to work really, really hard and sometimes even for less than the minimum wage and dont get any tax refund. So, at the end, they are helping to support retirement for US citizens. This lady had the courage to cross the border, leaving behing her kids and risking her own life and being raped during the journey. Most people dont make it. She has complied with the law and she most importantly she is a hard worker, the kind every country needs. And at the end, this country was founded by IMMIGRANTS.
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