General Information

Author/Creator

Robertson, Shari, director.

Language

English.

Published

United States, 2000.

Physical Description

DVD-ROM (119 min.)

Digital ver. identifier

HU_OSA_00004228

Contents/Summary

Summary

This documentary takes an in-depth look at the U.S. asylum granting process through the perspective of the Immigration and Naturalization (INS) asylum officers responsible for reviewing asylum applications. The odds of a refugee receiving asylum are about 1 in 200 and depend as much on the personal perspective of the officer assigned to the case as the circumstances involved in each application. According to INS guidelines, the applicant must possess an immediate and "well founded fear" of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, particular social group or political opinion. However, asylum granting is subject to individual biases and inclinations, as asylum officers grapple with discerning the truth in each claim presented to them. Through the cases presented, the film explores the notion of "well-founded fear," and tries to establish what constitutes a well-founded fear, how accurately it can be established, and how many errors are committed simply because fear is subjective.

Subjects

Genre

Documentary films

Bibliographic Information

Note

Soros Documentary Fund

Library Special Collection

Soros Documentary Fund

Holdings

Item Type	Current Location	Call Number	Status	Shelving Location	Public Note
DVD-ROM	OSA Film Library	FL Record 2613	Available	-	-
Digital film	OSA Film Library	FL Record 2613 (HU_OSA_00004228.mp4)	Available		Access Copy, MP4 format