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
BIA Remands Asylum Claim of Eritrean Fearing Military Service
Unpublished BIA decision remands for further consideration of asylum claim due to evidence indicating that Eritrean military conscripts are subjected to involuntary servitude and evaders receive disproportionate punishment (Matter of D-G-, 1/28/14) Special thanks to IRAC.
Data on Asylee Benefits Orientations
Information on asylee benefits orientations held at certain asylum offices, including information on the date the orientations started, sponsors, frequency, notification to asylees, and approximate numbers of attendees. Provided by the USCIS Asylum Division at a 1/28/14 stakeholder meeting.
USCIS Q&As from Asylum Stakeholder Meeting (1/28/14)
USCIS Q&As from the Asylum Division Quarterly Stakeholder Meeting on 1/28/14. Topics include updates from USCIS, recently issued memoranda, statistics, asylee benefit orientations, headquarters review of cases, the backlog, staffing updates, and asylum officer notes.
USCIS Memo on Changes to Case Categories Requiring Asylum Headquarters Review
USCIS 1/27/14 memo from John Lafferty, Chief of the Asylum Division, with the revised categories of affirmative asylum cases that require USCIS Headquarters review. The revisions are effective immediately.
USCIS Provides Asylum Division Statistics (October 2013 Through December 2013)
Statistics provided by USCIS Asylum Division including data on asylum office workload, number of asylum applications filed, breakdown of nationalities of asylum applicants, statistics on cases completed, credible fear reports, country-specific info, and more, for October 2013 through December 2013.
CA4 Finds Former Gang Members Can Be Particular Social Group
The court reversed the BIA, and held that the particular social group of former MS-13 members who have renounced their gang membership is immutable for withholding of removal purposes. (Martinez v. Holder, 1/23/14)
CA6 Remands for BIA to Decide Whether Offense Is a CIMT
The court remanded for the BIA to decide whether petitioner’s offense under Michigan law is a CIMT and whether he is removable without giving his attorney’s concession binding effect, and separately affirmed the BIA’s conclusion that he is ineligible for asylum. (Hanna v. Holder, 1/17/14)
AILA Announces New Author for Premier Asylum Resource
AILA announced that Dree K. Collopy, Partner, Benach Ragland, has signed on to author the 7th edition of AILA’s Asylum Primer. The Primer is the “go-to” asylum resource and the 7th edition will be released in late fall.
Statistics on Asylum Cases Pending Interview by Office
Asylum statistics on the number of cases pending interview, average number of days that cases have been pending, and number of days between filing and interview. Also includes the number of particular social group claims from select countries. Provided at a 1/28/14 asylum stakeholder meeting.
CA4 Remands Asylum Denial for Bipolar Individual from Tanzania
The court vacated and remanded, finding that the petitioner who suffered severe harm in hospitals and prisons in Tanzania qualified for asylum based on his membership in the particular social group of individuals with bipolar disorder who exhibit erratic behavior. (Temu v. Holder, 1/16/14)
CA1 Upholds Denial of MTR for Guatemalan Teacher Seeking Asylum
The court denied the petition for review, upholding the BIA’s denial of the motion to reopen (MTR) the removal proceedings, because the new evidence did not prove persecution in Guatemala was on account of teachers’ public teaching and opposition to gangs. (Rosales v. Holder, 1/15/14)
1st Things First (October 2013)
October 2013 edition of 1st Things First. Courtesy of the AILA New England Chapter.
USCIS Provides TRIG Statistics from 1/8/14 Meeting
Statistics current as of 12/31/13, provided by USCIS at a TRIG stakeholder meeting held on 1/8/14, including statistics on exemptions granted by category, exemptions denied by type of application, and cases on hold by type of application.
CA7 Denies Extreme-Hardship Waiver for Petitioner Convicted of Marriage Fraud
The court denied the petition for review, finding that the petitioner’s due process argument failed because he had no legitimate claim of entitlement to an extreme-hardship waiver under INA §216(c)(4). (Darif v. Holder, 1/2/14)
DOJ OIL January 2014 Litigation Bulletin
The DOJ OIL Immigration Litigation Bulletin for January 2014, with articles on individuals with bipolar disorder as a particular social group and the immigration consequences of military service, as well as circuit court decisions for January 2014 and monthly topical parentheticals.
USCIS Memo on TRIG Exemption for the Oromo Liberation Front
USCIS policy memo on the implementation of exercised discretionary authority not to apply most terrorism-related inadmissibility grounds (TRIG) to certain aliens for voluntary activities or associations related to the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).
BIA Reverses IJ’s Discretionary Denial of Asylum in Somali FGM Case
Unpublished BIA decision sustains the appeal, reverses the IJ’s discretionary denial of asylum, and concludes respondent met her burden of proof for asylum based on FGM and merits relief as a matter of discretion. Courtesy of Kimberly Hunter.
CA9 Finds Material Inconsistencies in One Asylum Claim Support an Adverse Credibility Determination on Another Claim
The court denied the petition for review, applying the maxim falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus to find that material inconsistencies in testimony regarding one claim support an adverse credibility determination on another claim in a pre-REAL ID Act case. (Li v. Holder, 12/31/13)
BIA Remands After 90-Day Filing Window Due to Totality of Circumstances
Unpublished BIA decision remands even though respondent’s motion was untimely filed, as respondent received inaccurate information from DHS officials regarding how to proceed and the new counsel obtained conviction records not previously in the record. Courtesy of Haitham Ballout.
CA4 Denies Petition to Review Forced Sterilization Claim
The court denied the petition to review the denial of asylum and withholding, finding that the adverse credibility finding relating to petitioner’s claim that he would be sterilized in China instead of his wife was supported by substantial evidence. (Pan v. Holder, 12/17/13)
CA9 on BIA’s “Place-of-Filing” Rule
The court vacated and remanded, holding that the BIA’s “place-of-filing” rule is a procedural claims-processing rule, not a jurisdictional bar to the BIA’s authority to consider a motion to reopen. (Hernandez v. Holder, 12/24/13)
CA1 Denies Asylum to Chinese Petitioner
The court denied the petition to review, finding that petitioner did not establish past persecution, future persecution, nor a clear probability of future torture, based on his wife’s forced sterilization in China. (Wu v. Holder, 12/23/13)
CA1 Upholds Asylum Denial for Christian from Nigeria
The court dismissed the motion to reopen as untimely and denied the motion to reconsider, finding no evidence of legal error, nor abuse of discretion. (Saka v. Holder, 12/23/13)
CA1 Upholds Asylum Denial for Greek Petitioner from Albania
The court denied the claim for asylum, upholding the IJ and BIA conclusions that improved conditions in Albania rebutted the petitioner’s presumption of a well-founded fear of persecution based on either his democratic political opinion or Greek ethnicity. (Ruci v. Holder, 12/23/13)
CA1 Upholds Asylum Denial for Chinese Christian
The court upheld the BIA’s conclusion that petitioner failed to establish prima facie eligibility for relief because the evidence in the motion to reopen did not show a reasonable likelihood that he would be individually targeted in China based upon his religion. (Wu v. Holder, 12/18/13)