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 Finds That Guatemalan Petitioner Failed to Prove He Was Persecuted “On Account Of” a Statutorily Protected Ground
The court held that substantial evidence supported the agency’s finding that the Guatemalan petitioner did not prove persecution “on account of” a protected ground pursuant to INA §101(a)(42)(A), and thus upheld the BIA’s and IJ’s denial of asylum. (Gonzalez-Arevalo v. Garland, 8/7/24)
CA1 Says BIA Did Not Abuse Its Discretion in Finding Petitioner’s Bank Fraud Conspiracy Offense Was a Particularly Serious Crime
The court concluded that the BIA did not err in determining that the IJ adequately specified that the petitioner’s conviction for conspiracy to commit bank fraud was a particularly serious crime that rendered him ineligible for withholding of removal. (Lafortune v. Garland, 8/5/24)
CA9 Says Petitioner’s Past Harm Rose to Level of Persecution Where It Included Physical Beating Connected to Credible Threat (Withdrawn)
The court held that petitioner, a member of the Mann Party who faced death threats and a beating from members of an opposing political party in India, had showed that his past harm, when cumulatively considered, rose to the level of persecution. (Kumar v. Garland, 8/2/24, withdrawn 1/17/25)
Practice Advisory: FAQs on CAM Program Processing
The International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) obtained policy documents about the CAM Program through FOIA requests that answer key questions about how certain application types are adjudicated. Read this practice advisory for more information.
Think Immigration: Court Conundrum: Omaha Immigration Court Frequently Compromises Due Process Rights
In this blog post, Kelly Shanahan highlights an ACLU of Nebraska report detailing due process concerns in Omaha immigration hearings, and urging readers to tell Congress to remove EOIR from the Department of Justice and establish an Article 1 independent immigration court system.
Parties File Proposed Settlement Agreement in Lawsuit Challenging Asylum EAD Clock
The parties submitted a proposed settlement agreement in a case challenging the policies and practices of USCIS and EOIR that prevent asylum seekers from obtaining Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) while their asylum claims are pending. (Garcia Perez v. USCIS, 7/29/24)
Practice Advisory: Seeking Release of Clients Detained in Virginia Under Rodriguez Guerra v. Perry Settlement
The NIP, Amica Center, and the ACLU of Virginia provide a practice advisory on a proposed agreement in Rodriguez Guerra v. Perry, a class action challenging ICE ERO Washington Field Office's failure to abide by ICE's policy to immediately review the custody of certain detained individuals.
CA5 Upholds Asylum Denial to Petitioner Who Alleged She Suffered State-Sponsored Persecution in Angola
The court held that substantial evidence supported the BIA’s conclusion that the petitioner, who alleged that she had been persecuted by the Angolan government due to her father’s anti-corruption activities, had not suffered state-sponsored persecution. (L.N. v. Garland, 7/25/24)
Think Immigration: I Wish People Knew Our Immigration Laws Haven’t Aged Well
As part of our “One Thing” series, Sandra Feist highlights specific examples of how our immigration laws do not serve the interests of American businesses or communities well and calls on Congress to move forward with immigration reform that would be reflective of today’s realities.
Think Immigration: The CBP One App Is Not Enough
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee Law Student Scholarship recipient Brenda Macías López describes why she believes the CBP One App is not enough to help ensure vulnerable immigrants can have a meaningful chance to claim asylum.
CA9 Remands Asylum Claim for Reassessment of Credibility Ground as to Chinese Petitioner Allegedly Subjected to Forced Abortion
The court concluded that the agency’s credibility determination may have been affected by a misstatement of Chinese law that was a centerpiece of the government’s cross-examination of the petitioner at her removal hearing, and thus granted the petition for review. (Shen v. Garland, 7/24/24)
CA9 Concludes That Petitioner Born in Mexico Was Not Eligible for Derivative Citizenship Based on INA §321(a)
The court determined that the petitioner was not eligible for derivative citizenship based on INA §321(a), and found that substantial evidence supported the BIA’s denial of Convention Against Torture (CAT) relief. (Colin-Villavicencio v. Garland, 7/23/24)
CA1 Finds Petitioner Who Experienced Harassment from Gang Members in El Salvador Failed to Show Membership in Valid PSG
The court concluded that the petitioner’s claimed particular social groups (PSGs)— “young person who has been beaten and threatened by gangs” and “young individual in the country who’s been targeted for gang recruitment” —were not cognizable. (Ramos-Gutierrez v. Garland, 7/18/24)
Think Immigration: USCIS Policy Changes Open New Opportunities for Immigration Lawyers to Support Stateless People
In this blog post, AILA members Betsy Fisher and Samantha Sitterley describe a recently developed USCIS process to determine whether a person is stateless; an upcoming AILA Roundtable will delve further into how AILA members can support stateless clients.
CA1 Remands Withholding of Removal Claim of Petitioner Who Fled Liberia as a Child During Civil War
The court held that the BIA and IJ had failed to address whether the petitioner’s childhood escape from Liberia because of systematic ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Krahn people during the Liberian civil war constituted past persecution. (Paye v. Garland, 7/17/24)
CA2 Upholds Asylum Denial to Nepalese Petitioner Who Received Death Threats from Maiost Partisans
The court held that death threats are not per se indicative of past persecution, and found that the death threats directed at the petitioner were not sufficiently imminent, concrete, or menacing so as to constitute past persecution under the case-by-case approach. (KC v. Garland, 7/17/24)
CA8 Upholds Asylum Denial Where Petitioner Claimed Past Persecution Based on Her Daughter’s Medical Treatment in Guatemala
The court upheld the BIA’s conclusion that the petitioner had not established past persecution, where she alleged that she was persecuted by hospital staff at a government-run hospital in Guatemala where she would take her daughter, who had a genetic disorder. (Calvo-Tino v. Garland, 7/12/24)
CA11 Upholds Denial of Yemeni Petitioner’s Request for Administrative Closure or Continuance
The court found that it lacked jurisdiction over the BIA’s denial of the petitioner’s motion to remand, and concluded that the BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying his request for an administrative closure or a continuance. (Alkotof v. Att’y Gen., 7/12/24)
CA9 Finds That Petitioner’s Nevada Conviction for Attempted Lewdness with Child under 14 Constitutes Attempted Aggravated Felony
The court held that the offense of attempted lewdness with a child under the age of 14, in violation of Nev. Rev. Stat. §§193.330 and 201.230(2), constitutes an attempted sexual abuse of a minor aggravated felony that rendered the petitioner removable. (Leon Perez v. Garland, 6/28/24)
CA11 Finds That Petitioner Was Properly Ordered Removed in Absentia Where She Provided an Erroneous Address and Failed to Correct It
The court held that because the petitioner had provided the government with an inaccurate address at which she could be reached and failed to correct it, immigration officials were excused from providing her notice of her removal hearing. (Rosales-Mendez v. Att’y Gen., 6/20/24)
CA2 Finds Petitioner’s Ground of Removal Was Insufficiently Related to His Marriage Fraud to Support INA §237(a)(1)(H) Waiver
The court upheld the BIA’s determination that petitioner could not invoke INA §237(a)(1)(H)’s fraud waiver to waive his charge of removability, because his conditional permanent resident status terminated automatically due to his failure to submit a joint petition. (Bador v. Garland, 7/11/24)
Alternatives to Immigration Detention: An Overview
The American Immigration Council examines alternatives to U.S. immigration detention, advocating for community-based, case management models over surveillance-heavy programs to improve compliance and reduce detention costs.
CA3 Holds That Time Spent in Pretrial Detention Is Confinement as a Result of Conviction under the INA
The court held that pre-conviction detention credited toward a defendant’s sentence is confinement “as a result of conviction” under INA §101(f)(7), thus precluding a finding of good moral character under the cancellation of removal statute. (Aguilar v. Att’y Gen., 7/10/24)
Think Immigration: Protecting Afghan Asylum Seekers Who are Not Considered “Allies”
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee Law Student Scholarship recipient Sanaa Talwasa describes why she believes USCIS should regard all Afghan asylum applicants as "allies" and consider them eligible for an expedited asylum application process and supportive policies.
CA8 Remands Asylum Claim of Pastor of Christian Church in El Salvador Who Was Targeted by MS-13 Gang Members
The court held that the BIA and IJ failed to conduct the required careful examination of the record to determine whether religion may have been one of multiple central reasons for the gang members’ persecution of the petitioner in El Salvador. (Rivera v. Garland, 7/5/24)