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Cameroonian Asylum Seeker & Activist Ornela to Senate: Protect the Asylum Program [1]

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Date: 2024-01-18  

Written by Ornela, CASA Member in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

After having my life placed in danger I escaped Cameroon. I have been calling Maryland my home for the last eight months after applying for Asylum.

Like thousands of asylum seekers I wait eagerly for an answer to my application.

But I cannot sit still hearing that the full asylum program is being decided in secret political negotiations.

My life and thousands of families' futures will be determined by the choice legislators make in these next two weeks.

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair and CAPAC, Immigration Task Force Co-Chair Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Congressional Black Caucus First Vice Chair Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Rep. Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-03), Rep. Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Rep. Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17), and asylum seeker Ornela Medom called on Senators to reject any compromises on immigrants’ rights, including anti-immigrant proposals that would gut our asylum system, separate families, and send vulnerable people back to danger.

I stood alongside members of Congress today in front of the Capitol in Washington DC to share my story. I heard Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair and CAPAC Immigration Task Force Co-Chair Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), say: “Today, we raise our voices against the so-called ‘negotiations’ taking place on the border. Let’s be clear: this is not a negotiation. It’s extortion. Republicans are choosing to hold Ukraine funding hostage in exchange for cruel, unworkable and permanent policy changes on immigration. They just want to shut down the border and shut down immigration.”

I have a special message too. I uplift my story to Congress, saying: do not deport me and thousands of asylum seekers into our deaths.

My life, and the life of so many are in hands of Leader Schumer, Senator Chris Murphy, and other Senators in charge of negotiations. They must not reallocate funds from asylum seekers. We deserve to be heard, and treated with dignity. Save the asylum program.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/1/18/2218157/-Cameroonian-Asylum-Seeker-Activist-Ornela-to-Senate-Protect-the-Asylum-Program?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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