{"id":606788,"date":"2018-07-25T08:00:27","date_gmt":"2018-07-25T14:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=606788"},"modified":"2018-07-24T17:07:15","modified_gmt":"2018-07-24T23:07:15","slug":"black-asylum-seekers-from-africa-face-unique-challenges-in-the-u-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/07\/black-asylum-seekers-from-africa-face-unique-challenges-in-the-u-s\/","title":{"rendered":"Black asylum seekers from Africa face unique challenges in the U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Merlin\"

Rachel Zein \/ for The Texas Tribune<\/p>

Merlin, 38, left Cameroon last year due to violence. But as a black immigrant, his experience in America has been a unique challenge.<\/p><\/div>\n

Editor\u2019s note: This story contains language that may be offensive to some readers.<\/i><\/p>\n

After a months-long journey across the Atlantic Ocean, into Central America and through Mexico, Merlin arrived at the U.S. port of entry in Laredo, Texas full of hope. The 38-year-old who worked in hotel management said he fled violent political unrest in Cameroon to seek a new life in America, a country he viewed as a bastion of safety and freedom.<\/p>\n

But after legally crossing the border and asking for asylum, Merlin was detained by federal officials for 11 months. He lived at the South Texas Detention Complex along with people who didn\u2019t look like him or speak his native language, French.<\/p>\n

Merlin, who asked to be identified only by his first name because he’s fleeing political persecution, was frequently frustrated with how the reality of life as a refugee in America conflicts with the country’s image as a haven for immigrants while he struggled through an asylum process experiencing fundamental shifts under the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t the United States he thought would be welcoming him with open arms and opportunity. Some days, he questioned why he came.<\/p>\n