Central American Victims of Gang Violence as Asylum Seekers: The Role of the Forensic Expert
Jesus-Rentas, G, Boehnlein, J, Sparr, L (2010) Journal of the American Academy Psychiatry Law 38:490–8, 2010
In recent years, mental health practitioners have become involved in the evaluation of asylum seekers who claim to be victims of torture and persecution because of their political points of view, or because of oppression in their country of origin. In this article, the authors explore the requirements for requesting asylum in the United States, the expectations of the immigration court and immigration attorneys, and the purpose and methodology of forensic consultation, through the case of a Central American asylum applicant.
Abstract
Individuals fleeing persecution have the right to asylum. This most fundamental right was guaranteed by the 1951 United Nations (UN) Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and was implemented in the 1967 UN protocol regarding refugee status. The United States codified refugee protection and the procedures for asylum in the Refugee Act of 1980, which was made part of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). In claiming refugee status, the burden of proof rests with the asylum seeker and is often a daunting task, given language and cultural barriers, lack of knowledge about U.S. legal procedures, and the reality that oppressive states do not document their intentions to persecute dissidents. Forensic psychiatrists may be asked to provide mental health assessment in immigration cases. In this article, an example of a Central American man with a nontraditional but increasingly common request for asylum is presented, the asylum process is described, and the role of the forensic psychiatric expert before the immigration court is explored.
The horizons of forensic psychiatric practice are ever expanding and have moved beyond criminal and civil courts, disability assessments, custody cases, and evaluations of malpractice. In recent years, mental health practitioners have become involved in the evaluation of asylum seekers who claim to be victims of torture and persecution because of their political points of view, or because of oppression in their country of origin. Recently, individuals in a new wave of asylum seekers from Central America have allegedly been victims of torture and persecution, not by government agencies, but by Central American gangs.
In this report, we present a summary of the evaluation of a Central American man at the Intercultural Psychiatric Program (IPP) at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). The requirements for requesting asylum in the United States, the expectations of the immigration court and immigration attorneys, and the purpose and methodology of forensic consultation will be explored. The man described in this case gave informed consent for his history to be used.