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
CA7 Declines to Review Petition for Roma Asylum Seeker from Bulgaria
The court denied the petition for review, affirming the IJ’s adverse credibility determination and finding that the petitioner could not provide evidence outside her testimony that she was persecuted because she is Roma. (Georgieva v. Holder, 5/6/14)
Center for Gender & Refugee Studies Resource on Gender, Child, and LGBTI Asylum Guidelines and Case Law
The Center for Gender & Refugee Studies study of gender, child, and LGBTI asylum guidelines and case law in foreign jurisdictions, intended for use by U.S. attorneys representing asylees involving claims of gender-based persecution and sexual orientation, and gender identity-related persecution.
DHS Report on Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR) in 2013
DHS Office of Immigration Statistics Annual Flow Report on information on the number and characteristics of persons who became LPRs in the U.S. during 2013, finding 990,553 persons became LPRs in 2013.
DOJ OIL May 2014 Litigation Bulletin
The DOJ OIL Immigration Litigation Bulletin for May 2014, with articles on the BIA’s recent decisions on particular social groups, as well as information on the Adverse Credibility Project and summaries of circuit court decisions for May 2014.
CA1 Declines to Review Asylum Denial for Sikh Petitioner from India
The court denied the petition for review, affirming the BIA and IJ’s conclusions that the petitioner lacked a well-founded fear of future persecution, given his ability to move to Delhi and remain in India for several months without further harassment or arrest. (Singh v. Holder, 4/30/14)
AILA/SSA Liaison Meeting Questions and Answers (March 2014)
Answers from the Social Security Administration (SSA) in response to questions submitted by the AILA SSA/DMV Liaison Committee. Topics include SSA receipts, applications procedures, employment verification issues, and enumeration at entry. The committee requests follow-up questions by 5/9/14.
The Revised Credible Fear Lesson Plan: Enough is Enough!
This is not just a blog post, but a call to action. Over the past six months, we have seen dog-and-pony hearings by Congress and a series of administrative changes to our asylum system that have deviated from the United States' longstanding obligations under domestic and international law to the de
CA1 Declines to Review Asylum Denial for Petitioner from Nepal
The court denied the petition to review the asylum denial, finding that the record evidence did not amount to past persecution, even though the Maoists also may have threatened the Nepali petitioner with a gun during the isolated event. (Thapaliya v. Holder, 4/24/14)
CA1 Declines to Reopen Removal Proceedings for Sri Lankan Asylum Seeker
The court denied the petition to review the denial of the second motion to reopen, finding petitioner did not show that evidence of Sri Lanka’s history of torturing returned asylum seekers was unavailable and undiscoverable at the time of her removal proceedings. (Perera v. Holder, 4/22/14)
EOIR Asylum Statistics FY2009-FY2013
EOIR released asylum statistics broken down by fiscal year and nationality for FY2009 through FY2013.
AILA New Members Division E-News, April 2014 (Vol. 6, Issue 2)
This latest edition brings you expert practice tips related to flat fees, affirmative asylum, unannounced DHS site visits, DOMA, and overcoming language barriers in court.
CA1 Declines to Review Asylum Denial for Colombian Petitioner
The court held that the Colombian petitioner did not establish past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution and thus found the petitioner’s asserted social group of widows of slain narco-traffickers moot. (Moreno v. Holder, 4/18/14)
CA9 Declines to Review Asylum Denial for Chinese Petitioner
The court found that under In Re J-S-, as a spouse of a victim of a forced abortion or sterilization, a reasonable factfinder would not be compelled to find that the petitioner either resisted China’s one-child policy or had suffered persecution. (He v. Holder, 4/17/14)
NSC Liaison Q&As from Asylum and Refugee Product Line Teleconference (4/10/14)
The NSC Liaison committee’s unofficial Q&As from AILA and other stakeholders from a 4/10/14 teleconference with NSC on asylum and refugee issues. Topics include marriage certificates for Burmese refugees, I-730 processing responsibility, and consular return of I-730 petitions.
EOIR FY2013 Statistics Yearbook
EOIR FY2013 statistics yearbook with data on the Immigration Courts, BIA, and OCAHO. The yearbook, an annual compilation of data on respondents’ cases by nationality, language, and disposition, and provides detailed information surrounding asylum cases, used a new statistical methodology for FY2013.
CA9 Declines to Review Withholding and CAT Denial for Dominican Petitioner
The court held substantial evidence supported the BIA’s adverse credibility determination based on petitioner’s various lies to U.S. officials and to the district court judge, especially about her identity and country of origin. (Garcia v. Holder, 4/16/14)
CA9 Declines to Review Asylum and Withholding Denial for Chinese Petitioner
The court held substantial evidence supported BIA’s reasonable determination that petitioner was not credible under the totality of the circumstances, including his non-responsive demeanor during cross-examination and affirmative misrepresentations of his residency. (Jin v. Holder, 4/14/14)
USCIS Statistics on Minor Asylum Applicants
USCIS asylum office statistics, including information on minor principal applicants and asylum applicants of any age filing with USCIS under the initial jurisdiction provision of the TVPRA wile in removal proceedings, from 10/1/13 through 3/31/14.
USCIS Statistics on Credible Fear Asylum Cases (Updated 8/13/14)
USCIS asylum office statistics on the FY2014 credible fear and reasonable fear workload, including report summaries which are broken down by inland and port of entry case loads, and monthly credible and reasonable fear nationality reports, listing the top five nationalities broken down by month.
USCIS Asylum Applications Filed by Nationals of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya
USCIS asylum office statistics of asylum applications filed by nationals of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya from FY1993 through FY2014, broken down by fiscal year and status of case.
USCIS Asylum Office Workload for January-March 2014
USCIS asylum office workload, broken down by office, stage of the asylum case and nationality, for January 2014 through March 2014.
USCIS Asylum Statistics (4/11/14)
USCIS asylum statistics, including data on Syrian asylum applications, affirmative asylum, asylum applications granted by asylum office, credible and reasonable fear rates by asylum office for FY2004-FY2014, asylum pre-screening system findings, and credible and reasonable fear nationality report.
DOS Request for Comments on FY2015 Refugee Admissions Program
DOS notice of public comments on FY2015 U.S. Refugee Admission Program, including request for comments on the appropriate size and scope of the FY2015 program. Comments are due by 5/29/14. (79 FR 19958, 4/10/14)
USCIS Provides TRIG Statistics from 4/8/14 Meeting
Statistics current as of 3/31/14, provided by USCIS at a TRIG stakeholder meeting held on 4/8/14, including statistics on exemptions granted by category, exemptions denied by type of application, and cases on hold by type of application.
CA7 Declines to Review Withholding Denial for Mexican Petitioner Fleeing Abusive Wife
The court held that the BIA did not err by finding that the petitioner failed to identify “persons who face persecution by corrupt governmental and law enforcement authorities instigated by a politically connected spouse” as a valid social group. (Ruiz-Cabrera v. Holder, 4/8/14)