Asylum seeker in New York

Hi everyone,

I’m an asylum seeker in your country. I work, study, and pay for everything myself — no government benefits, no assistance. But this post is not really about my case.

Right now in the U.S. there’s a frightening situation: people are literally being taken off the streets. In online groups, families abroad write that they can’t find their relatives here. Recently, one young man I know reappeared after two months - he had been in detention the whole time.

We came here to avoid being arrested back home. Yet now we live in daily fear that we could be detained at any moment. The irony is that we need protection from the very country we came to for protection.

In my own case, I was supposed to have my court hearing already - but my judge was dismissed. Now, after three years of waiting, I am back to an indefinite timeline.

I also wanted to ask: is there any way to reach out to state-level authorities in New York with complaints? Or, under the current administration, are we just treated as expendable people, almost automatically deported? Yes, I know it might sound naïve to still believe in human rights. We trusted our lives to a country that felt different when we first came here.

And one more question: can the authorities officially acknowledge that it is no longer safe for asylum seekers in this country? On paper, the U.S. is considered a “safe country,” but in reality, what we are experiencing feels like madness.

Maybe there is some New York–based community or human rights organization that could confirm this on paper?

And finally - what are the chances that NYC could also see the army being deployed, like what has already happened in Chicago?