This petition is a call to the conscience of the United States government and the American people.

I am a woman who fled Afghanistan. I am a member of the Hazara minority, a group that has endured generations of persecution, violence, and systematic discrimination based on ethnicity and religion. For people like me, staying meant living under constant threat—of imprisonment, abuse, or death. I did not come to the United States seeking charity. I came seeking safety, dignity, and justice.

I came because America promised something rare in this world: human rights, equality, and the belief that every life has value. In this country, I was finally seen as a human being. As a woman, I was allowed to learn. I was allowed to go to school. I was allowed to think freely, speak freely, and believe in what I know is right. I was allowed to choose my own future and my own life partner—rights denied to me simply because of who I was born as. America gave me a second chance at life.

Today, I am a proud American who deeply values what this country stands for. What makes America different from so many other parts of the world is not only its power, but its principles—respect for human dignity, equal opportunity, and the belief that freedom should not depend on where you were born. These values are not abstract ideas; they are lived promises that saved my life. As an American, I feel a responsibility to protect them.

And yet today, that same promise is being denied to countless others.

Across the country, people fleeing war, religious persecution, racial violence, and gender-based oppression are seeking asylum in the United States. Many arrive at the southern border, often through Mexico, not because they disregard the law, but because there is no safe, orderly, or realistic way to wait for protection elsewhere. Under U.S. law and international human rights agreements, seeking asylum is a legal right, regardless of how a person enters the country.

Yet instead of protection and due process, many asylum seekers—who are waiting for their cases to be reviewed—are being arrested, detained, and treated as criminals by immigration enforcement agencies, including ICE. Seeking protection is not a crime. Waiting for legal documents is not a crime. Being born into a persecuted identity is not a crime. Detention does not reflect American strength—it reflects moral failure.

Families are being torn apart. Survivors of trauma are retraumatized. Fear replaces hope. And the values that once made the United States a beacon to the world are being steadily eroded. When a government detains those who come seeking safety, it does not protect its borders—it abandons its humanity.

As an American who believes in this country’s highest ideals, I am asking my fellow Americans to join me in defending what truly makes America strong: compassion, justice, and respect for human dignity.