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
CA8 Affirms Withholding Denial for Petitioner Who Suffered Child Abuse in Hong Kong
The court affirmed the withholding denial, finding that substantial evidence supported the determination that the petitioner's age represented a fundamental change in circumstances such that her life and freedom would not be threatened if she returned to Hong Kong. (Hui v. Holder, 10/14/14)
NSC Liaison Q&As from Asylum/Refugee Issues Teleconference (10/9/14)
The NSC Liaison Committee’s unofficial Q&As from the 10/9/14 teleconference on refugee and asylum issues with NSC. Topics include: I-765 eligibility for individuals with convictions, I-131 fee waivers, I-730s, adjustment of status, G-28s, and TRIG issues.
Karnes is a Disgrace
Let me begin with this: We, as lawyers, have to be careful not to let our emotions cloud judgment. But I must say my trip to Karnes Detention Center this past weekend brought to the forefront of my consciousness a number of strong emotions which cannot be ignored. I saw there the faces of detained [
AILA: Obama Talks Big on Immigration Reform, But is Not Delivering
AILA President Leslie Holman responds to two recent announcements from the Obama Administration regarding the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI) program and a plan to allow young children from Central American countries to apply for refugee status from outside the U.S.
CA2 Says Asylum Applicant Is Not Required to Establish Nationality Through Documentary Evidence Alone
The court vacated and remanded with instructions to review the IJ’s adverse credibility finding, and that the BIA erroneously required the petitioner, who claimed he was a stateless Tibetan born in Nepal, to prove his nationality through documentary evidence alone. (Urgen v. Holder, 10/2/14)
Immigration Law Advisor, September 2014 (Vol. 8, No. 7)
The September 2014 Immigration Law Advisor, a legal publication from EOIR, with an article on assessing the government’s inability or unwillingness to control private persecution, circuit court decisions for August 2014, recent BIA precedent decisions, and a regulatory update.
DOJ OIL October/November 2014 Litigation Bulletin
The DOJ OIL Immigration Litigation Bulletin for October/November 2014, with articles on false claims of citizenship on the Form I-9 and DHS’s actions on immigration, as well as summaries of circuit court decisions for October/November 2014 and monthly topical parentheticals.
A Look Into Karnes
AILA member Ruby Powers volunteered at the Karnes detention facility recently; her experience inspired her to write an article which will be available in full soon on AILA's volunteer resource page. Excerpts from the piece are below: “I would like to echo the sentiments expressed by other attorneys
USCIS Provides TRIG Statistics from 11/18/14 Meeting
Statistics current as of 9/30/14, provided by USCIS at a TRIG stakeholder meeting held on 11/18/14, including statistics on exemptions granted by category, exemptions denied by type of application, and cases on hold by type of application.
Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for FY2015 (Updated 11/24/14)
Presidential determination on refugee admission, allowing the admission of up to 70,000 refugees for FY2015. The memo indicates that individuals from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador may be considered refugees within their countries of nationality or habitual residence. (79 FR 69753, 11/21/14)
A Shameful Chapter in Our History
The family detention center known as the “T. Don Hutto Residential Center“ opened in May 2006. Most of the families previously housed at this residential center, like those currently housed at the Artesia and Karnes Detention Centers, were families awaiting adjudication of their asylum claim
CA2 Says BIA Did Not Err in Denying Suppression Motion or Asylum
The court held that because the petitioner voluntarily conceded his removability in a motion to change venue, the BIA did not err in denying the suppression motion, and also did not err in denying the asylum application. (Vanegas-Ramirez v. Holder, 9/25/14)
Artesia Kaleidoscope
The three weeks are a kaleidoscope of shifting images: visual, auditory, sensory, and emotional. From 90 degree heat to heavy, cold, rain and flash flooding. It hadn't occurred to me to bring sweaters to the New Mexico desert. Apparently it hadn't occurred to the U.S. government either, as many of t
AILA: Administration Trying to Drag Mothers and Children Back to Detention
In response to the Administration appealing bond decisions for some mothers and children released from Artesia, AILA President Leslie Holman stated, “I am utterly outraged by the latest tactics the Obama Administration has used to inflict needless misery on mothers and children seeking asylum.”
AILA: Expansion of Family Detention Means the United States Will Jail More Victims of Violence
AILA President Leslie Holman reacts to confirmation that a massive family detention facility will open in Texas saying, “You can call it a ‘Family Residential Center’ but it is a prison. Dilley will be the largest immigration detention facility nationwide—all for the purpose of jailing families.”
CA9 Remands CAT Claim for Further Proceedings
In an unpublished decision, the court remanded after finding that there was substantial evidence that the police did not provide the petitioner protection and noting changes in case law regarding the particular social group claim. Courtesy of Shara Svendsen.
AILA New Members Division E-News, September 2014 (Vol. 6, Issue 4)
This latest edition brings you expert practice tips related to representing unaccompanied children, acquiring citizenship at birth and ante-nuptial agreements.
Offering Hope and Comfort to Detained Moms and Kids
Over the past year, the United States has seen a sharp increase in the number of women and young children fleeing violence in Central America. In response, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began opening new detention centers across the country to detain families, while their fates are deci
Practice Alert: Filing Supporting Documentation at the Los Angeles Asylum Office
As of August 1, 2014, the Los Angeles Asylum Office requires that all supporting documentation for asylum applications be submitted, in triplicate, at least one week prior to the date of the asylum interview.
CA11 Says Silence in DOS Reports Cannot Rebut Evidence of Torture of Returned Asylum Seekers
The court vacated and remanded the 2013 order of removal, concluding that the silence in the DOS Country Reports could not, without more, rebut evidence presented that petitioner would suffer persecution as a failed asylum seeker if returned to Sri Lanka. (Gaksakuman v. Att’y Gen., 9/18/14)
Artesia Betrays America: Part III
I have no way of adequately expressing the dismay, and loss and anger and hurt and woundedness that this week made me feel. Finally I figured out the word. It is betrayal. I felt betrayed. Deeply betrayed by something that I have dedicated my life to. Another lawyer who was there in the first w
Artesia Betrays America: Part II
People didn't seem to matter in Artesia, not their comfort, not their privacy, not the simple human dignity we all take for granted. There was deep and profound soul shattering heartbreak, watching these vulnerable women and children who have come to this country seeking asylum being systematically
Artesia Betrays America: Part I
In June and July, the humanitarian crisis on the border lit up the news and it was all I could think about. The headlines were full of unaccompanied minors, politicians and protesters; the front pages had pictures of children sleeping in warehouses that were too cold. My practice started seeing an
CGRS Practice Advisory on Domestic Violence-Based Asylum Claims
The Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS) practice advisory on domestic violence-based asylum claims, including an overview, guidance on asylum claims based on membership in a particular social group, and guidance on withholding of removal and CAT claims.
An Arduous Success in Artesia
Friends - I share the good news that Lisa Weinberg successfully has obtained parole for one of our clients, a mother with a very sick toddler who had stopped walking and eating solid food since arriving in Artesia. As far as I know, this is the first order allowing release on parole of a family [