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 on Jurisdiction to Review Timeliness of Asylum Application
The court found that it did not have jurisdiction to review whether the petitioner’s asylum application was untimely and that there were no changed circumstances that excused the late filing, holding that the petitioner’s argument was not a pure question of law. (Bitsin v. Holder, 5/31/13)
USCIS Evidence Training Module for Cases in RAIO Directorate
USCIS training module dated 6/6/13 describing the types of evidence and the burden and standards of proof for applications for benefits in the RAIO Directorate, including language stating that the “clearly and beyond doubt” standard is comparable to the “clear and convincing standard.”
CA9 Remands Denial of El Salvadoran Asylum Claim
The court directed the BIA to re-evaluate whether the petitioner’s opposition to the FMLN’s strategy of using violence constitutes a political opinion and address whether the petitioner established a likelihood of future persecution. (Regalado-Escobar v. Holder, 6/5/13)
USCIS Memo on Telephonic Interviews in Negative Credible Fear Determinations
USCIS Asylum Division memo dated 6/4/13 implementing effective immediately the policy that where credible fear interviews are initiated over the telephone, Asylum Pre-Screening Officers should complete their interviews over the telephone, including those that may lead to a negative determination.
BIA Says Severity of Past Persecution in Guatemala Warrants Humanitarian Asylum
Unpublished BIA decision finding that the atrocity of respondent’s past persecution in Guatemala was sufficient to warrant a discretionary grant of humanitarian asylum in the absence of a well-founded fear of future persecution. Courtesy of Diana M. Bailey.
USCIS Permanently Closing Office in Tegucigalpa, Honduras on June 20
USICS press release stating that USCIS will close its field office in Tegucigalpa, Honduras on June 20, 2013. The USCIS Field Office in San Salvador, El Salvador, will assume its former jurisdiction and the U.S Embassy in Tegucigalpa will assume responsibility for certain requests.
CA8 Finds Conviction Precludes Review of CAT Protection Claim
The court held that the petitioner’s conviction for burglary in the second degree is an aggravated felony, and that the conviction precludes the court from reviewing the BIA’s denial of CAT protection. (Gallimore v. Holder, 5/22/13)
CA1 Finds BIA Erred in Pakistani Withholding Case
The court held that the BIA’s decision on withholding of removal was contrary to the evidence, finding that the mistreatment suffered by the Pakistani petitioner rose to the level of persecution and was not merely part of a private dispute. (Javed v. Holder, 5/24/13)
USCIS Guidance to RAIO Officers on Firm Resettlement
USCIS provided an overview of the firm resettlement bars for asylum and refugee resettlement and addresses the similarities and differences between these two bars and their exceptions, including an explanation of the BIA four-step framework for analyzing evidence. Special thanks to David Cleveland.
USCIS Memo on TRIG Exemption for Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front and Nationalist Republican Alliance
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 Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front or the Nationalist Republican Alliance.
CA11 Finds No Implied Exception to Material Support Bar
The court held that there is no implied exception to the material support bar for support provided to a terrorist organization involuntarily or under duress. (Alturo v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 5/21/13)
CA7 Remands Asylum Case of Political Activist from Moldova
The court found that the IJ and BIA applied the wrong legal standard in determining whether the petitioner had shown past persecution for his political activities in Moldova, and remanded the case to the BIA. (Prodan v. Holder, 5/20/13)
CA4 Holds Conviction Is Not an Aggravated Felony, Reinstates Asylee Status
The court held that the conduct the petitioner admitted to and on which his conviction for second degree assault necessarily rests does not constitute a crime of violence, and thus that he is not removable as an aggravated felon. (Karimi v. Holder, 5/13/13)
BIA Critiques and Reverses IJ’s Adverse Credibility Finding
In an unpublished decision, the Board strongly critiqued several aspects of the IJ’s adverse credibility finding, and held that the respondent established past persecution on account of his sexual orientation. Special thanks to NIJC.
USCIS Guidance to RAIO Officers on Gender-Related Claims
USCIS provided its RAIO Combined Training Course on gender-related factors to be considered when interviewing and adjudicating claims related to gender, including claims based on violations of societal norms associated with gender.
AILA Notes on Liaison Q&As with SCOPS (5/15/13)
AILA notes from a teleconference with SCOPS on 5/15/13. Topics include FY2014 H-1B cap update, DACA inquiries, I-290B processing times, asylum-based inquiries through NCSC, USCIS immigrant fee, the new G-28, and EOIR AOS filings at TSC.
CA7 Seriously Critiques BIA Treatment of Asylum Cases Based on Forced Sterilization
The court wrote that the BIA brushed aside whether the petitioner faces a substantial risk of compulsory sterilization if she is removed to China, critiqued the BIA for its treatment of the evidence, and remanded the case. (Chen v. Holder, 5/9/13)
CA9 Remands Asylum Case of Former Mexican Soldier
The court remanded the asylum case for the BIA to reconsider whether members of a Mexican drug cartel were responsible for the harm suffered by the petitioner, and to determine whether the government is able to control the cartel. (Tapia Madrigal v. Holder, 5/15/13)
Settlement Agreement on Asylum Work Authorization Class Action Lawsuit
Class notice from District Court in Washington state on the ABT Settlement Agreement which ensures that individuals who seek asylum are entitled to new procedures relating to the crediting of time toward eligibility for employment authorization. (B.H., et al. v. USCIS, 5/14/13)
CA6 Finds German Homeschoolers Are Not Eligible for Asylum
The court held that a German law requiring all children to attend school was not selectively applied to homeschoolers like the petitioners, and that the enforcement of the law did not amount to persecution against the petitioners. (Romeike v. Holder, 5/14/13) AILA Doc. No. 13052047.
BIA Grants Construed Motion to Reopen for Assyrian Christian
Unpublished BIA decision remanding after finding that the respondent’s motion, stating that conditions for Assyrian Christians have gotten worse since U.S. troops departed Iraq in December 2011, demonstrated prima facie eligibility for asylum and withholding. Courtesy of Robert DeKelaita.
USCIS Lesson Plan on Mandatory Bars to Asylum
USCIS provided a lesson plan describing the prohibitions on applying for asylum, exceptions to those prohibitions, and the circumstances that require denial or referral of an application, even when an applicant establishes that he is otherwise eligible for asylum. Special thanks to David Cleveland.
USCIS Provides the Lesson Plan Overview on Safe Third Country Threshold Screening
USCIS provided the lesson plan on determining whether an individual seeking entry from Canada at a land border is eligible for an exception to the Safe Third Country Agreement between the U.S. and Canada, which would allow him/her to seek asylum in the U.S. Special thanks to David Cleveland.
USCIS Provides ADOTC Lesson Plan on Suspension of Deportation and Special Rule Cancellation of Removal Under NACARA
USCIS provided its Asylum Division Officer Training Course (ADOTC) lesson plan instructing officers to apply appropriate law to determine whether an applicant is eligible for suspension of deportation or special rule cancellation of removal under NACARA.
Asylum Division Officer Training Course on Corps Values and Goals
This lesson describes the values that guide the USCIS Asylum Program as it works to fulfill its mission and explains how those values are embodied in the concrete goals set as a measurement of the program’s success.