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
CA9 Remands Asylum Denial for Chinese Petitioner
The court held substantial evidence did not support the IJ’s adverse credibility finding based on a discrepancy in dates in the evidence, as other evidence corroborated the explanation that one of the documents included an incorrect date due to a typographical error. (Zhi v. Holder, 5/16/14)
USCIS Alert on Immigration Consultants Being Sentenced for Filing Bogus Asylum Applications
USCIS press release on the sentencing of a San Gabriel immigration consulting business for participating in a long-running scheme to prepare and file fraudulent asylum applications that made phony claims of religious persecution on behalf of Chinese nationals.
CA1 Declines to Review Second Motion to Reopen for Petitioner from China
The court found the BIA did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the petitioner’s evidence as to population control measures “in some areas of China” was insufficient to establish either a likelihood of persecution or materially changed circumstances. (Lin v. Holder, 5/14/14)
CA1 Declines to Review Petition for Guatemalan Petitioner
The court declined to review the withholding denial, upholding the BIA’s decision that concluded that “individuals perceived as wealthy on account of their return to Guatemala from lengthy stays in the U.S.” did not constitute a particular social group. (Sam v. Holder, 5/14/14)
CA9 Holds Sentencing Enhancements May Be Considered in "Particularly Serious Crime" Determinations
The court held that the IJ and BIA may consider sentencing enhancements for purposes of determining whether a noncitizen who has not committed an aggravated felony has nonetheless committed a particularly serious crime under INA §241(b)(3)(B)(ii). (Konou v. Holder, 5/9/14)
CA9 Remands, Considering Indonesian Petitioner’s Post-Removal Conversion to Christianity
The court held that a petitioner’s untimely motion to reopen may qualify under the changed conditions exception in 8 CFR §1003(c)(3)(ii), even if the changed country conditions are made relevant by a change in the petitioner’s personal circumstances. (Chandra v. Holder, 5/12/14)
CA1 Denies Motion to Reopen (MTR) for Indonesian Christian
The court declined to review the MTR denial on the basis of changed country conditions, finding the BIA did not abuse discretion when finding the evidence presented did not address a particular or individualized risk of harm if petitioner returned to Indonesia. (Simarmata v. Holder, 5/12/14)
USCIS Memo with Updated Guidance on Reasonable Fear Note-Taking
USCIS memo, from John Lafferty, Chief of the Asylum Division, effective 5/9/14, changing the requirements for how asylum pre-screening officers take interview notes and document alien corrections and approval of notes. Interview notes will now be in Q&A format, and not a sworn statement.
CRS Report on Policy Discussions on the Unauthorized Population in the U.S.
Congressional Research Service (CRS) report on the current policy discussions regarding the unauthorized population in the U.S., including information on demographics of the population and a summary of current laws and policy options.
CA9 Remands Asylum Claim for Petitioner Fleeing Gang Violence in Guatemala
The court granted petition for review, finding it was unclear whether the evidence was sufficient to meet the revised social visibility standard in W-G-R and M-E-V-G, and remanded for BIA to consider the asylum claim in light of these decisions. (Pirir-Boc v. Holder, 5/7/14)
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)
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.
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)
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)