Helping Asylum Seeker M
Donation protected
M is a young man from Cameroon seeking asylum and currently detained at Adelanto Detention Facility. I am part of a humanitarian group trying to help him, and am seeking support for that process.
M fled Cameroon after being imprisoned and tortured in a part of the country filled with civil unrest. He escaped, and was told he would be killed if he were found, so he fled the country, first to Nigeria, where he was warned to leave, and then heading to America, the "shining city on the hill" to seek asylum. After a treacherous journey through Central America and Mexico, followed by a long wait for his asylum number to be called, he entered the US, was awarded credible fear status, and was then placed in the Adelanto Detention Facility. Seeking asylum is an internationally recognized practice, and is not illegal.
The path to asylum is complicated and arduous these days, and while M has obviously completed many of the steps required, once in the U.S., the best way to be granted asylum is to have legal representation.
I've been privileged to visit this kind, quiet, thoughtful young man, and to stay in touch via letters and phone calls. He called this week sounding scared and confused. His bond hearing (one of the legal steps which allows a detainee to request a bond so he can continue his work toward asylum outside of the detention center) was coming up, and his lawyer had only been paid for his asylum hearing. He would have to represent himself, and fill out all of the legal paperwork, a daunting task for an American who speaks English as their first languge, much less a Cameroonian whose native language is French. I called his lawyer, and she explained all the ways that getting a bond could help toward ultimately being granted asylum. The lawyer's fee was $1500 for the bond hearing. It doesn't guarantee M will even be given a bond, and if he is given a bond, that money would have to be raised. But, having his lawyer at his bond hearing would give him hope, a chance, and a better opportunity to gain asylum. A return to Cameroon would likely be a death sentence.
Hope and a chance seemed good enough to me, I paid the $1500, hoping I could recoup some of that cost with this Go Fund Me campaign. In telling people what I was doing, I've already had $90 donated from kind hearted friends and colleagues. I, of course, want to pay part of this (or all, if it comes to that!), so I'm asking for $1310 to cover the remainder of this fee.
This is just one small step in the asylum process, and if M is awarded bond, there will be additional steps to raise that money. But, I'm thinking one step at a time, and if any of you are moved to help, I immensely appreciate it.
If we go over the goal of $1310, I will use that money toward the bond, or will put it in M's commissary account so he can call home.
Thank you!
M fled Cameroon after being imprisoned and tortured in a part of the country filled with civil unrest. He escaped, and was told he would be killed if he were found, so he fled the country, first to Nigeria, where he was warned to leave, and then heading to America, the "shining city on the hill" to seek asylum. After a treacherous journey through Central America and Mexico, followed by a long wait for his asylum number to be called, he entered the US, was awarded credible fear status, and was then placed in the Adelanto Detention Facility. Seeking asylum is an internationally recognized practice, and is not illegal.
The path to asylum is complicated and arduous these days, and while M has obviously completed many of the steps required, once in the U.S., the best way to be granted asylum is to have legal representation.
I've been privileged to visit this kind, quiet, thoughtful young man, and to stay in touch via letters and phone calls. He called this week sounding scared and confused. His bond hearing (one of the legal steps which allows a detainee to request a bond so he can continue his work toward asylum outside of the detention center) was coming up, and his lawyer had only been paid for his asylum hearing. He would have to represent himself, and fill out all of the legal paperwork, a daunting task for an American who speaks English as their first languge, much less a Cameroonian whose native language is French. I called his lawyer, and she explained all the ways that getting a bond could help toward ultimately being granted asylum. The lawyer's fee was $1500 for the bond hearing. It doesn't guarantee M will even be given a bond, and if he is given a bond, that money would have to be raised. But, having his lawyer at his bond hearing would give him hope, a chance, and a better opportunity to gain asylum. A return to Cameroon would likely be a death sentence.
Hope and a chance seemed good enough to me, I paid the $1500, hoping I could recoup some of that cost with this Go Fund Me campaign. In telling people what I was doing, I've already had $90 donated from kind hearted friends and colleagues. I, of course, want to pay part of this (or all, if it comes to that!), so I'm asking for $1310 to cover the remainder of this fee.
This is just one small step in the asylum process, and if M is awarded bond, there will be additional steps to raise that money. But, I'm thinking one step at a time, and if any of you are moved to help, I immensely appreciate it.
If we go over the goal of $1310, I will use that money toward the bond, or will put it in M's commissary account so he can call home.
Thank you!
Organizer
Laura Gross
Organizer
Agoura Hills, CA