>> We leave it there. Sarah Kopplin thanks very much. Thank
you. Turning to the southern border, a temporary solution to
deter a surge of illegal crossings at the US-Mexico
border may become more permanent as Republicans have made
immigration a central issue in the presidential election.
Political pressure has mounted for Democrats to address the
issue. An executive order issued in June from President Joe Biden
severely limited the number of people who can seek asylum at
the border. Immigration advocates fear the policy deters
people with legitimate asylum cases who are fleeing their home
country for fear of persecution. "Here& Now" student, journalist
Jane McCauley, follows the journey of one such man who
risked it all. >> At this point, I was
thinking, maybe I make a wrong decision of coming here.
>> Kaul Augustine had two choices he could either face
arrest, seeking asylum at the U.S. Southern border, or face
political violence in his home country of Cameroon.
>> They look at us like second class citizens in your own
countries. Simply because of what? Because you can't speak
French whatsoever. of a violent civil war known as
the Anglophone Crisis. Thousands of people have been killed and
hundreds of thousands displaced. >> I said, look, we cannot be in
our own country and be treated as second class citizens. They
go down the street, they start protesting. You know, we want
our rights to be restored. >> The country's internal
conflict is a remnant of French and British colonization. It's
been decades of discriminatory policies from the French
speaking government against the country's English speaking
regions. More and more people like Goure have stood up against
the government, risking arrest and torture. Gutierrez wife and
daughter assumed he had died in detention. What they didn't know
is that he escaped from Nigeria and fled to South America,
starting in Ecuador and traveling north through the
Darien Gap, one of the most dangerous places in the world.
Over thousands of miles and through eight countries, he
reached Mexico. >> I look like I'm a kind of
different human being that come from separate, different world.
You know, I was and there was a lot of police discrimination. I
said, oh, this is not simply what I'm running away from.
>> Walz journey was harrowing, taking a toll both physically
and emotionally. >> I have not talked to my
family for all the time I was traveling at that time. And, you
know, the stress and the emotion was going on.
>> Finally, he arrived at the U.S. Mexico border.
I've been through to get to cross this very border is it was
really. When I think of what I've been through to get to this
point, it was I can't even I can't even find the right word
to describe it. When I got into the US immigration, I thought, I
am safe. I felt relieved. >> That relief, however, turned
to regret as he questioned if leaving for the U.S. was the
right decision. >> When they took me to the to
the detention, I said I didn't commit any crime. Why are they,
like, taking me to this place? >> He thought seeking asylum
meant being protected in the custody of the United States.
Instead, he was arrested like a criminal.
I've never committed any crime in my life. Apart from being
apart from being protected in my home country.
>> And they told him nothing. >> I thought I was still in
Chicago because I didn't even know where I was.
>> It was weeks later he found out he was in a federal
detention facility in Dodge County, Wisconsin. This is a
humanitarian issue. Erin Barbato is director of the UW Law School
Immigrant Justice Clinic. Ngwa says everything changed when he
met her. because they have no other
choice. We have laws that allow people to seek protection here
when they will be persecuted or have been persecuted in their
home country. >> Seeking asylum is one issue,
but proving your case is another. His witness accounts
attest to the chaos in his country.
>> He also wears scars on his body that we were able to,
demonstrate were linked to the persecution that he suffered
from the government. >> Obviously, our backgrounds
are really different. >> Wittke Toni and Mark Swanby
met Ngwa through Barbato, but we had so much in common, like
values and belief systems and all that. Guo went to live with
them after leaving Dodge County Jail on parole. They became his
American parents, giving him a place to call home.
>> Having Gua in our life now has been a real blessing to us.
You know, we've inherited another family, if you will, or
found more family. I'd like to. >> I know you love to listen to
stories. >> After four long years, Gu's
wife Stella, and then five year old daughter, Ann received their
documents to come to the U.S. >> I was just like, is this for
real? Am I here? I was in shock when I saw him. I was so happy
to make a life here in the U.S. and what what they've been
through and what they're going through is just a hard thing.
>> In June, Gua graduated from UW lacrosse with a masters in
Health care Administration. After years of hardship, Gua
received his asylum in 2021. Now he's applying for U.S.
citizenship. Stella and Ann await their green cards. In the
meantime, it means everything to Gua to start a new life in
Wisconsin. your family to be united. I
think we're really happy. And I am looking forward to more
amazing things for "Here& Now". amazing things for "Here& Now".