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
DOS 30-Day Notice for Comments on Medical Examination for Immigrant or Refugee Applicant
DOS 30-day notice for comments on Medical Examination for Immigrant or Refugee Applicant. Comments are due by 8/20/14. (79 FR 42391, 7/21/14)
CA4 Remands Asylum Denial for Salvadoran Petitioner Fleeing MS-13
The court granted the petition for review and remanded, finding that even though other members of the petitioner’s family may not have been “uniquely or specially targeted” by the MS-13 gang, this fact did not did not undermine petitioner’s own fear of persecution. (Aquino v. Holder, 7/18/14)
CA1 Declines to Review Withholding Denial for Petitioner from Brazil
The court upheld the BIA’s finding that the petitioner feared harm in Brazil as a result of a personal dispute and not on account of membership in his immediate family or as part of the social group of people who help Brazilian women escape violent relationships. (Moura v. Holder, 7/14/14)
NSC Liaison Q&As from Refugee/Asylees Product Line Teleconference (7/10/14)
The NSC Liaison Committee’s unofficial Q&As from stakeholder teleconference with NSC on 7/10/14. Topics included: employment authorization and adjustment of status for asylees and refugees, I-730 issues, G-28s for I-601A waivers, NSC policies on extreme hardship evidence RFEs, and TRIG updates.
USCIS Statistics on Asylum Filings for Minors for FY2014
USCIS provided FY2014 statistics on minor principal applicants (affirmative asylum applicants under the age of 18 at the time of filing) and asylum applicants of any age filed with USCIS under the initial jurisdiction provision of the TVPRA while in removal proceedings.
EOIR Announcement of New Priorities to Address Migrants Crossing into the U.S.
A 7/9/14 Department of Justice press release announcing that EOIR will refocus its resources to prioritize cases involving migrants who have recently crossed the southwest border and whom DHS has placed into removal proceedings.
CA1 Finds Salvadoran Petitioner Failed to Show Causation in Asylum Claim
The court found that although the nuclear family can be a social group that is the target of persecution, the petitioner, a mother of three sons resisting gang violence in El Salvador, failed to show she would be persecuted as a result of her kinship. (Constanza v. Holder, 7/9/14)
USCIS Comment Request on DNA Evidence in Refugee Processing
USCIS 60-day comment request on allowing Form I–590 applicants to use an AABB accredited laboratory to provide effective and credible evidence of the parent-child relationship. USCIS is also seeking to conduct a Rapid DNA testing pilot. Comments are due by 9/8/14. (79 FR 38558, 7/8/14)
National Sign-on Letter Opposing Family Detention
On 7/7/14 AILA joined over 100 other organizations in a sign-on letter to President Obama urging him to end plans to open new immigrant detention centers for families.
CA9 Retroactively Applies Terrorism Bar for Asylum Petitioner from Iran
The court held the statutory terrorism bar at INA §212(a)(3)(B) applied retroactively to petitioner’s material support of a Tier III organization, the Mojahedi-e Khalq (MEK), although his activities with MEK in the 1970s occurred before official designation. (Bojnoordi v. Holder, 7/7/14)
Representative Issa Letter Asking President to End DACA
A 7/2/14 letter from Representative Issa (R-CA), signed by 32 of his Republican House colleagues, offering suggestions to President Obama on how to curtail the humanitarian crisis at the southern border, including telling him to end deferred action for childhood arrivals.
CA11 Says Form I-589 Provides Sufficient Notice of Frivolous Filing Consequences
The court held that the written notice provided on I-589 asylum application form is sufficient to meet the statutory requirement in INA §208(d)(4) that an applicant be notified of the consequences of filing a frivolous application. (Ruga v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 7/2/14)
CA1 Declines to Review New Evidence Not Presented First to BIA
The court denied the petition for review, finding the BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion to reopen and it did not have jurisdiction to consider new evidence relating to persecution by the Taliban in Pakistan that was not presented to the BIA. (Shah v. Holder, 7/2/14)
President Obama 6/30/14 Remarks on Border Security and Immigration Reform
Text of President Obama’s 6/30/14 remarks on border security and immigration reform. Remarks included plans to ask Congress for resources to address the humanitarian crisis involving unaccompanied alien children from Central America and plans for administrative action on deportation policies.
No Childhood Here: Why Central American Children Are Fleeing Their Homes
An American Immigration Council report based on interviews with children recently returned to El Salvador, as well as conversations with journalists and local, regional, and government officials, sheds light on what is compelling minors to migrate to the U.S. or other countries in the region.
AILA New Members Division E-News, July 2014 (Vol. 6, Issue 3)
This latest edition brings you expert practice tips related to securing O-1B status for artistic clients, new page limitations for E-2 applicants, seeking termination vs. administrative closure, using social media in your practice, and legislative immigration reform.
CA5 Asks BIA to Consider Color of Law Legal Standard for Salvadoran CAT Claim
The court remanded for the BIA to consider the CAT claim under the color of law legal standard, considering the extortionists in El Salvador may have received information about petitioner from government officials acting in their official capacities. (Garcia v. Holder, 7/1/14, amended 8/8/14)
BIA Says Proof that Noncitizen Knew of Fraud in Application Is Not Required for Terminating Asylum Grant
The BIA held DHS is not required to establish that a noncitizen knew of the fraud in the application in order to terminate an asylum grant, yet DHS must still separately prove the noncitizen was not eligible for asylum at the time it was granted. Matter of P-S-H-, 26 I&N Dec. 329 (BIA 2014)
Turning Our Backs on Our Own History
The humanitarian crisis involving the arrival of thousands of unaccompanied minors at our borders has brought out diverse opinions within our government and country. Some politicians would like to send these minors back to Guatemala on a bus. Before we become too critical about the future of these
CA1 Finds BIA Committed Legal Error on “On Account of” Element of Guatemalan Asylum Claim
The court found the factual record did not preclude and would even allow the BIA to find that petitioners were members of a particular social group by virtue of their family relationship, without any need to show a further protected ground. (Aldana-Ramos v. Holder, 6/27/14, amended 8/8/14)
USCIS Guidance on Immediate Family Members in Credible Fear Process
USCIS memo from John Lafferty, Chief of the Asylum Division, with guidance on who is considered an immediate family member in the credible fear process, credible fear determination for immediate family members, and linking related family members in the Asylum Pre-Screening System.
Getting a Little Serious about the Need for Immigration Reform
This is a post adapted from my speech last week in accepting an award from AILA for outstanding contributions made as a young lawyer in the field of immigration and nationality law. While the occasion was a happy one and I was honored to receive that award, I took the opportunity, as I do here, [
BIA Finds FGM Constitutes Exceptional and Extremely Unusual Hardship
Unpublished BIA decision grants cancellation of removal upon finding respondent’s U.S. citizen daughters would suffer exceptional and extremely unusual hardship in Senegal by being subject to female genital mutilation (FGM). Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of K-C-, 6/23/14)
AILA Quicktake #84: Announcement on Increased Family Detention Facilities
AILA's Second Vice President Annaluisa Padilla sits down to discuss the Obama administration's announcement to open additional detention facilities to address the humanitarian crisis at the border.
AILA: Increasing Detention Won’t Solve Humanitarian Crisis
AILA President Leslie A. Holman responded to the Obama Administration’s announcement that the detention of families will increase saying, “Frankly, I’m surprised at this because I believe that our country’s values center on protecting families, and these particular families are so very vulnerable.”