Featured Issue: Asylum Under Trump 2.0
On the first day of his second term, President Trump suspended all entries at the U.S. Southern Border for asylum seekers. Since then, the Administration has implemented sweeping restrictions that shut America’s doors to people fleeing persecution. These policies violate federal law, erode constitutionally protected due process, exacerbate the asylum backlog, and give those seeking safety an increasingly narrow path to protection.
Left unchecked by Congress, these policies will have dire consequences for both asylum seekers and the integrity of our legal system. Asylum seekers—especially those without access to counsel—are at grave risk of being returned to harm.
It doesn’t have to be this way. The Administration can maintain order at U.S. borders and effectively manage migration without sacrificing fairness and adherence to the law. With more trained asylum officers, a streamlined legal process, legal representation for asylum seekers, and more effective coordination between relevant agencies, the U.S. can establish a safe, orderly, and humane asylum system.
Browse the Featured Issue: Asylum Under Trump 2.0 collection
NSC Liaison Q&As on Refugees and Asylum Issues (8/13/15)
The NSC Liaison Committee’s unofficial Q&As from the 8/13/15 teleconference on refugee and asylee issues, and other issues with NSC. Topics include: document production, same-sex common law marriage, I-589s, and I-730s.
DOJ’S Shameful Attempt to Pretty Up Family Detention Comes Up Woefully Short
The American Immigration Lawyers Association and the American Immigration Council are outraged by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) response to U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee’s ruling on the mass incarceration of children and mothers seeking asylum in the U.S.
Affirmative Asylum Scheduling Bulletin (8/7/15)
As of 8/7/15, USCIS’s Asylum Division began posting an affirmative asylum scheduling bulletin, which will be updated monthly.
CA6 Remands for Reconsideration and Clarification of Frivolousness Finding
The court held that the current record did not support BIA and IJ’s frivolousness finding, because IJ failed to determine whether misrepresentations made by the Chaldean Christian Iraqi petitioner were material to his asylum application at the time they were made. (Yousif v. Lynch, 8/7/15)
USCIS Asylum Division Stakeholder Meeting Agenda and Unofficial Notes (8/7/15)
Agenda and unofficial notes from the 8/7/15 USCIS Asylum Division Quarterly stakeholder meeting. Topics include Asylum Division updates, statistics, the affirmative asylum application backlog, one-year filing deadline, and the asylum clock.
BIA Holds IJs Must Notify Applicants of Biometrics Requirement and Deadline
BIA held that IJs must notify asylum applicants of biometrics requirements, deadline, and noncompliance consequences, and that IJs and BIA lack jurisdiction to consider if asylum-only proceedings were improvidently begun under a VWP referral. Matter of D-M-C-P-, 26 I&N Dec. 644 (BIA 2015)
CA1 Upholds Determination That Attack on Petitioner Was Not Persecution
The court held that the generalized evidence, including news articles and country conditions reports, submitted by the Honduran petitioner, who escaped an attack by armed assailants, was not sufficient to compel a finding of a well-founded fear of persecution. (Villafranca v. Lynch, 8/5/15)
CA1 Upholds Adverse Credibility Determination Due to Prior Inconsistent Statements
Based on substantial evidence, including petitioner's prior inconsistent statements, the court upheld the IJ and BIA's adverse credibility finding and the resulting denial of petitioner's withholding of removal and CAT claims. (Cuatzo v. Lynch, 8/5/15)
Recognition of Some Amazing Volunteer Work
There are hundreds of individuals who have come together on the ground to work on family detention - in Artesia, in Karnes, in Dilley, and in Berks. There are people from every far-flung corner of our nation who have worked remotely on case after case, brought attention to this tragic and inhumane i
CA9 Holds “Mixed” BIA Decision Is Not a Final Order of Removal
The en banc court held that when BIA issues a decision that denies some claims, but remands others to IJ, BIA's decision is not a final removal order with regard to any of the claims, and does not trigger the 30-day window in which to file a petition for review. (Abdisalan v. Holder, 1/6/15)
DOJ OIL August 2015 Litigation Bulletin
The DOJ OIL Immigration Litigation Bulletin for August 2015, with articles on Garcia v. Lynch and Thomas v. Lynch, as well as summaries of circuit court decisions for August 2015.
USCIS Asylum Office Workload for April 2015 – June 2015
USCIS asylum offices’ workload, broken down by office, stage of the asylum case and nationality to applicants, for April 2015 through June 2015.
Public Version of Complaint to CRCL
Public version of CRCL complaint with ten individual case summaries documenting ICE’s failure to provide adequate medical care to mothers and children in family detention facilities.
Summaries of the 10 Individual Cases
Ten individual case summaries documenting ICE’s failure to provide adequate medical care to mothers and children in family detention facilities.
Press Release: Deplorable Medical Treatment at Family Detention Centers
Press release from AILA and five other organizations announcing the lodging of complaints by mothers with DHS Offices for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and Inspector General regarding the deplorable medical care they and their children received while detained by DHS.
USCIS Asylum Division Credible and Reasonable Fear Interviews Statistics from FY2009-FY2015
USCIS Asylum Division statistics on credible and reasonable fear interviews conducted in field offices, as well as inland and ports of entry nationwide from FY2009 through June 2015. The report also includes processing times and statistics on requests for consideration.
CA1 Upholds Asylum Denial for Petitioner Who Fled Guatemala During Civil War
The court upheld BIA's denial of petitioner's asylum claims, finding that petitioner failed to establish he reasonably feared future persecution based on his membership in a particular social group, which he defined as "members opposed to gang membership." (Paiz-Morales v. Lynch, 7/29/15)
Sign-on Letter to Attorney General Opposing Criminal Prosecution of Asylum Seekers
On 7/28/15 AILA joined civil rights and human rights groups in asking Attorney General Lynch to end illegal entry and re-entry criminal convictions for individuals seeking asylum in the U.S.
AILA Releases Seventh Edition of Asylum Primer
AILA is proud to release the seventh edition of AILA's Asylum Primer, the comprehensive, practical guide to U.S. asylum law and procedure that has been completely updated and expanded to address changes since the release of the last edition in 2009.
Letter to ICE Director Saldaña Regarding Recent Release Practices at Dilley and Karnes
A 7/27/15 letter from CARA Pro Bono Project to ICE Director Saldaña regarding the coercion and confusion surrounding recent releases from Dilley and Karnes, and the lack of information provided to families before they leave the facility and recent ICE actions undermining the right to counsel.
Incarcerated Children and Mothers Denied Due Process and Critical Information Before Release
The CARA Family Detention Pro Bono Project called Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to account for the cascade of due process violations and detrimental practices at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, and at the Karnes County Residential Center in Karnes City, Texas.
USCIS Guidance to RAIO Officers on “Membership” in a Particular Social Group
Obtained via FOIA by Catholic Charities of DC, USCIS guidance on whether an applicant established that past harm suffered or future harm feared is on account of membership in a particular social group and its interpretation in administrative and judicial case law. Special thanks to David Cleveland.
Judge Stands Up for Refugee Families, Castigates Government for Policies that Traumatize Children
The American Immigration Lawyers Association and the American Immigration Council welcomed a ruling in Flores v. Johnson by U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee that should signal the end of the mass incarceration of children and mothers seeking asylum in the U.S.
District Court Finds DHS in Breach of Flores Agreement
District Court Judge finds DHS in breach of the Flores agreement and grants plaintiffs’ motion to enforce. DHS has until 8/3/15 to file a response, and plaintiffs have until 8/10/15 to file a response, after that the matter will stand as submitted. (Flores v. Johnson, 7/24/15)
A Humane Approach Can Work: The Effectiveness of Alternatives to Detention for Asylum Seekers
This American Immigration Council report reviews emerging research on the release of asylum seekers from detention, including the impact of various forms of alternatives to detention, and summarizes the primary harms caused by immigration detention.