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
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Unpublished BIA decision upholds grant of cancellation under NACARA upon finding respondent did not provide “material support” to guerillas who stole food from his store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)
CA11 Remands Asylum Denial for BIA to Consider Corroborating Evidence
In an unpublished decision, the court found that the adverse credibility finding was not supported by specific, cogent reasons and remanded for the BIA to consider the corroborating evidence. Courtesy of Roberto Matus. (Olivares v. Att'y General, 11/22/13)
CA4 Upholds Adverse Credibility Finding in Chinese Forced Abortion Case
The court declined to review the asylum denial, upholding the BIA’s finding of inconsistencies in petitioner’s statements regarding her marital status and forced abortion and noting the DOS report that population controls are no longer strictly enforced in China. (Lin v. Holder, 11/22/13)
EOIR/USCIS Invitation to Teleconference on ABT "Asylum Clock" Settlement Agreement
EOIR/USCIS invitation to an 11/21/13 teleconference on the implementation of the ABT "asylum clock" settlement agreement. Registration information included.
Statistics on Affirmative Asylum Cases Filed Over One-Year After Entry Date
Statistics on affirmative asylum cases filed after the one-year filing deadline, including information on how many cases were referred to immigration court and how many cases were granted. Provided by the USCIS Asylum Division at a 1/28/14 stakeholder meeting.
CA11 Denies Witholding to Petitioner Fleeing Drug Violence in Mexico
The court upheld the IJ’s and BIA’s decisions, finding Petitioner did not establish a nexus between membership in a particular social group and the harm, and he did not establish past persecution, as he did not show acts that harmed him personally. (Rodriguez v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 11/19/13)
Settlement Requires USCIS to Provide Asylum Officer Interview Notes in FOIA Response (Updated 4/29/14)
Settlement agreement reached in a lawsuit challenging USCIS’s policy of withholding of asylum officer interview notes in FOIA responses. On 1/8/14, USCIS instructed its employees involved in processing FOIA requests that asylum officer interview notes generally are to be produced.
CA7 Denies Asylum to Landowners from Honduras
The court upheld the BIA’s conclusions that the squatters, known as “capesinos,” did not act on account of petitioners’ status as land owners and that Honduras is both willing and able to protect land owners from campesinos. (Urbina-Dore v. Holder, 11/18/13)
BIA Finds IJ Erred in Denying Derivative Asylum Claim
Unpublished BIA decision remanding, finding the IJ erred when concluding the respondent could not claim derivative status through her husband’s approved asylum application because she entered the U.S. as a nonimmigrant prior to her husband. Courtesy of Rachel Wilson.
BIA Remands Asylum Denial for Bipolar Individual from Ghana
Unpublished BIA decision remanding, finding that individuals from Ghana who suffer from mental illness and are indigent and lack family support constitutes a cognizable particular social group and that the IJ erred in evaluating well-founded fear of persecution. Courtesy of Geoffrey Hoffman.
BIA Grants Asylum to Applicant from Republic of Congo
Unpublished BIA decision sustaining appeal of asylum denial, concluding that the IJ’s adverse credibility finding was clearly erroneous and that the harm the applicant suffered on account of her political opinion constituted past persecution in the Republic of the Congo. Courtesy of Toni Maschler.
BIA Remands After IJ Failed to Determine if Applicant Experienced Past Torture
Unpublished BIA decision remanding denial of application for protection under the Convention Against Torture because the IJ did not render a determination on whether the applicant established that he was tortured by a Salvadoran government official. Special thanks to Edgardo Quintanilla.
CA8 Denies Asylum to Chinese Christian from Indonesia
The court denied asylum, upholding the findings of the IJ and BIA that the harm Petitioner suffered did not rise to the level of persecution, while also noting State Department reports of decreased violence involving Chinese Christians in Indonesia. (Supangat v. Holder, 11/7/13)
CA9 Overturns Asylum Denial for Pakistani Petitioner
The court overturned the termination of Petitioner’s asylum status, finding that DHS failed to give proper notice of its witnesses or exhibits, and since Petitioner refused to testify, the exhibits could not be used as impeachment evidence. (Urooj v. Holder, 11/6/13)
CA1 Remands Pentecostal Russian Asylum Claim
The court vacated and remanded, finding that the BIA erred when it found that the persecution the petitioner experienced in Russia was not “on account of” his Pentecostal faith. (Ivanov v. Holder, 11/5/13)
DHS Privacy Impact Assessment Report on Refugee Access Verification Unit
DHS Privacy Impact Assessment report on Refugee Access Verification Unit, which tracks and manages information on immediate family members in the U.S. and their overseas family members seeking consideration for resettlement under the Priority 3 Family Reunification Program.
CA1 Upholds Adverse Credibility Finding for Guatemalan Petitioner
The court denied the application for CAT relief and upheld the adverse credibility finding due to the Petitioner’s inconsistencies in his submissions and testimony. (Martinez v. Holder, 11/4/13)
DHS Notice on Exercise of Authority Regarding Eritrean Liberation Front
DHS notice of determination announcing that §212(a)(3)(B) of INA shall not apply to a person for any activity or association occurring on or after 1/1/1980 relating to the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), provided that they satisfy relevant agency criteria. (78 FR 66037, 11/4/13)
DHS Notice on Exercise of Authority Regarding DMLEK (Updated 12/5/13)
DHS notice of determination announcing that INA §212(a)(3)(B) shall not apply to the solicitation of funds or activities of the Democratic Movement for the Liberation of Eritrean Kunama (DMLEK). Typographical correction issued on 12/5/13. (78 FR 73202, 12/5/13) (78 FR 66036, 11/4/13)
USCIS Affirmative Asylum Procedures Manual (November 2013)
USCIS Affirmative Asylum Procedures Manual from the Asylum Division, updated and revised as of November 2013, provides instruction for asylum office personnel on how to process affirmative asylum applications.