A jailed Salvadoran woman petitioned to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to prevent her deportation from happening. The woman who refused to reveal her name sought asylum saying her life will be at risk if she is to be deported to El Salvador.
The woman claims that her son was killed by gang members in El Salvador. These gang members, according to her, also threatened her life.
Reuters published that lawyers from an advocacy group, the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), are representing the woman. They pointed out that her deportation would violate international human rights and would have denied the woman her right for asylum. Representatives of NIJC asked the commission to take precautionary measures, directing the United States not to deport her and El Salvador not to issue travel documents to facilitate the deportation.
The woman told Reuters in a phone interview, "I can't return to El Salvador, I'm scared that they will torture me or kill me, because that's what they do after they threaten a person. They take you to a vacant lot and make you dig your own grave." According to her statements, she had to close her small store because gangs were extorting her and were compelling her to take food to their gang members who are in jail.
This Salvadoran is just one of thousand immigrants, both legal and illegal, who have sought refuge in different countries particularly the USA. These refugees left their homes due to fear and violence and to find financial opportunities.
There were some who are allowed to stay in the U.S. after interviews and establishing that they have grounds to seek asylum, however, the Salvadoran woman who is now held in Missouri failed to give enough reasons to allow her stay. The immigration officer who handled her interview, according to Reuters, said she did not establish a credible threat which an immigration judged also agreed to.
The Salvadoran woman defended that she was not in good conditions during the interview and she did not have a lawyer nor did she understand the process.
In an article published by the International Justice Resource Center on the Asylum and the Rights of Refugees, ineligible individuals who are seeking asylum have a fighting chance to be eligible. According to the article, they are protected under Article III of the Convention against Torture, "which forbids States Parties from extraditing or returning an individual to a country where they risk being tortured or subjected to cruel, degrading, treatment or punishment."
Despite all this, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights refused to comment until a resolution to the issue is made.
