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
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)
CA2 Denies Asylum to Pro-Democracy Petitioners from China
The court denied the petitions for review, concluding there was insufficient evidence to suggest that the Chinese authorities would become aware of the petitioners’ pro-democracy activities while in the U.S. or that they would be targeted on that basis. (Y.C. v. Holder, 12/18/13)
AILA ICE Liaison Committee Meeting Q&As (12/17/13)
AILA ICE Liaison Committee questions and answers from the 12/17/13 liaison meeting with ICE, including information on access to credible fear interviews, the detention bed mandate, ATDs, detainee transfers, G-28s, medical exams, FOIA requests, PD, and communication with ICE OCC.
District Court Finds Plaintiff Timely Registered for ABC Benefits
The district court denied the government’s motion to dismiss, finding facts sufficient to support plaintiff’s claim that he timely registered for ABC benefits on or before 12/31/91, even though his I-589 was stamped on 1/13/92. (Hernandez v. Napolitano, 12/17/13). Thanks to Charles Ellison.
House Judiciary Hearing on Asylum
A 12/12/13 hearing in the House Judiciary Committee on “Asylum Abuse: Is it Overwhelming our Borders?”
AILA Statement for House Judiciary Hearing on Asylum
AILA statement submitted to the House Judiciary Committee for the 12/12/13 hearing on “Asylum Abuse: Is it Overwhelming our Borders?”
BIA Finds Respondent Eligible for Asylum Based on FGM
Unpublished BIA decision finding respondent eligible for asylum, finding compelling reasons for being unwilling to return to Senegal based on female genital mutilation (FGM) irrespective of whether respondent has a well-founded fear of future persecution. Courtesy of Matthew Benson.
AILA/EOIR Liaison Meeting Minutes (12/12/13)
Minutes from the 12/12/13 AILA EOIR Liaison Committee meeting with EOIR. Topics include the impact of the government shutdown, unpublished BIA decisions, eRegistry and eFiling, provisional waivers, biometrics, waivers under §237(a)(1)(H), medical exams, and pre-trial pilot projects.
BIA Remands for Consideration of Unadjudicated Motions to Reopen
Unpublished BIA decision remands for consideration of motions to reopen based on changed country conditions in Russia that the IJ failed to adjudicate (Matter of Drabovskiy, 12/12/13) Special thanks to IRAC.
CA7 Declines to Review Asylum Denial for Chinese Petitioner from Fujian Province
The court declined to review the asylum denial, noting that although the BIA and IJ’s opinions were flawed, the inadequacy of the lawyer’s brief, along with petitioner’s failure to present evidence of her financial situation, precluded vacating the asylum denial. (Chen v. Holder, 12/11/13)
CA8 Remands Adverse Credibility Finding in Chinese Forced Abortion Case
The court granted the petition, finding that the BIA erred by adopting the IJ’s adverse credibility finding that was not supported by substantial evidence and discrediting the petitioner’s claim of past persecution in the form of a forced abortion in China. (Zhang v. Holder, 12/11/13)
CA2 Finds BIA Abused Its Discretion in Chinese Christian’s MTR
The court found the BIA abused its discretion when it denied petitioner’s MTR because she had not submitted a sworn statement in support of the new evidence she proffered, and because her expert witness had not provided copies of the sources on which he relied. (Indradjaja v. Holder, 12/9/13)
CA9 Says IJ/BIA Did Not Violate Due Process by Relying on Hearsay DOS Investigation
The court held that due process is not violated when the IJ/BIA denies asylum based solely on unsworn, unauthenticated hearsay letters detailing a DOS investigation that were prepared for litigation without affording the petitioner the right to confront the charges. (Angov v. Holder, 12/4/13)
USCIS Alert on Revised ABT Settlement Agreement
USCIS alert on the revised ABT Settlement Agreement, which provides that certain individuals who intend to file an asylum application, or who have already filed an asylum application, are entitled to have their eligibility for employment authorization determined using new procedures.
CA9 Upholds Waiver Denial
The court holds petitioner is not an inadmissible alien eligible for waiver under INA §237(a)(1)(H), because her charge of removability is not waivable, and because she was being deported based on her conviction for falsifying documents, not for inadmissibility. (Taggar v. Holder, 12/2/13)
EOIR Memo with Updated Asylum Clock Operating Policies and Procedures
EOIR 12/2/13 memo from Chief Immigration Judge Brian O’Leary to immigration judges and immigration court staff with updated operating policies and procedures on the asylum clock. OPPM 13-02 supersedes OPPM 11-02.
EOIR Memo with Guidelines for Implementing ABT Settlement Agreement
EOIR 12/2/13 memo from Chief Immigration Judge Brian O’Leary to immigration judges and immigration court staff with guidelines for implementation of the ABT Settlement Agreement.
Immigration Law Advisor, November-December 2013 (Vol. 7, No. 9)
Immigration Law Advisor, a legal publication from EOIR, with articles on the terrorism-related inadmissibility grounds (TRIG), circuit court decisions for October and November 2013, and a regulatory update on the extension of TPS for Somalia.
DOJ OIL November/December 2013 Litigation Bulletin
The DOJ OIL Immigration Litigation Bulletin for November and December 2013, with articles on gang membership as a social group and immigration consequences of military service, as well as circuit court decisions for November and December 2013 and monthly topical parentheticals.
EOIR’s Uniform Docketing System Manual
EOIR’s Office of the Chief Immigration Judge issued the Uniform Docketing System Manual, dated December 2013, detailing the case processing system that governs the management of all cases in the Immigration Court.
BIA Holds Robbery Victim Did Not Provide Material Support to Guatemalan Guerrillas
Unpublished BIA decision upholds grant of cancellation under NACARA upon finding respondent did not provide “material support” to guerillas who stole food from his store at gunpoint. (Matter of Gonzales, 11/26/13) Special thanks to IRAC
DHS Update to Privacy Act System of Records Regarding Refugee Access Verification Unit
DHS notice of Privacy Act System of Records update allowing USCIS to collect information to verify claimed relationship between relatives in the U.S. and their overseas relatives seeking access through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. Comments accepted until 12/26/13. (78 FR 70313, 11/25/13)