Denied Asylum, But Terrified To Return Home
Immigration lawyers say they're seeing an alarming spike in the number of asylum claims that are being rejected at the earliest stage, known as the credible fear interview.
In May, Lourdes walked across the bridge from Mexico to El Paso, Texas, and requested asylum. The first step is an interview with an asylum officer.
"I told him that I have the evidence on me," Lourdes said, through an interpreter. She told the asylum officer about the scar on her arm, and the four missing fingers on her left hand — all evidence, she says, of a brutal attack by a gang in her native Honduras.
But the asylum officer rejected her claim.
"I don't know what happened," Lourdes said. "I don't know
