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
Secretary Chertoff Advises of Changes in FBI Name Check Clearance Process
In a meeting with AILA and other organizations, DHS Secretary Chertoff indicated that USCIS and the FBI are changing parts of the name check process, with the expected result that a large proportion of the backlog should be cleared within six months.
Authority of Asylum Officers to Retain Fraudulent Documents
Memo from Lynden Melmed, USCIS Chief Counsel, regarding asylum officers’ authority to retain fraudulent and fraudulently obtained documents for the purpose of determining authenticity.
CA2 Says No Jurisdiction to Review Timeliness of Asylum
The court reversed its previous decision and held that it lacked jurisdiction to review the IJ’s determination on the timeliness of Petitioner’s asylum application. (Liu v. INS, 11/30/07)
CA9 Reverses District Court, Finds Plaintiff Eligible for Benefits Under ABC Settlement Agreement
The court held that Plaintiff’s asylum application, filed on 1/31/91, indicated his intent to receive benefits of the ABC agreement, notwithstanding the fact that the application did not explicitly reference the agreement. (Chaly-Garcia v. United States, 11/29/07)
CA1 Finds Family Planning Persecution Claim Speculative
The court upheld the denial of asylum, finding the BIA justifiably relied on a DOS report indicating that fees levied on unwed mothers were merely for social compensation, and in some cases the fees had abolished or relaxed. (Wang v. Mukasey, 11/29/07)
CA2 Remands Asylum Claim of Colombian Kidnapped by FARC
The court remanded the case because of the BIA’s flawed reasoning that kidnapping could not amount to persecution. (Delgado v. Mukasey, 11/28/07)
CA9 Finds Asylum Applicant May Authenticate Documents by Own Testimony
The court held that an asylum applicant may seek to authenticate public documents by any established means – including through an applicant’s own testimony if consistent with the Federal Rules of Evidence. (Vatyan v. Mukasey, 11/27/07).
USCIS Publishes Revised Information Collection on Form I-589
USCIS published a revised information collection on Form I-589. Comments are due December 21, 2007. (72 FR 65587, 11/21/07)
CA2 Says Affluent Guatemalans Are Not a Particular Social Group
The court held that the BIA’s rulings that social groups require a certain degree of “social visibility” and that the definition of social group must have particular and well-defined boundaries were “sufficient and affirmable.” (Ucelo-Gomez v. Mukasey, 11/21/07)
CA2 Remands on Issue of “Pattern or Practice” of Persecution of Christians
The court remanded where the BIA considered only whether Petitioner had been singled out for persecution and did not consider his claim that there was a pattern or practice of persecution of Christians in Indonesia. (Mufied v. Mukasey, 11/20/07)
CA2 Says BIA Abused Discretion in Denying MTR in Chinese Family Planning Case
The court found that the documents submitted in support of the motion to reopen were strikingly similar to the documents in Shou Yung Guo, and that the BIA did not indicate that it “paid any attention to the documents at all.” (Gao v. Mukasey, 11/19/07)
CA8 Upholds Adverse Credibility; Finds Changed Conditions in Sierra Leone
The court upheld the IJ’s adverse credibility finding noting an ID card that appeared altered to match information on a false birth certificate. The court upheld the BIA’s holding that changed conditions precluded a clear probability of persecution finding. (Diallo v. Mukasey, 11/19/07)
CA9 Finds BIA Abused Discretion in Denying MTR Based on Ineffective Counsel
CA9 held that Petitioner had been deprived of meaningful review due to the ineffective assistance of counsel and was entitled to a presumption of prejudice. It found that she failed to establish past persecution in Armenia, but remanded re future persecution. (Grigoryan v. Keisler, 11/19/07)
GAO Report on Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998
The GAO issued the seventeenth report as required by the Haitian Immigration Fairness Act of 1998. The report lists the number of Haitian nationals who have applied and been approved to adjust their status to lawful permanent residence.
Nursing Mothers and Asylum Seekers — Both Groups Need Alternatives To Detention!
ICE Assistant Secretary highlighted the importance of ICE agents exercising discretion when making arrests of undocumented immigrants who are nursing mothers after a nursing mother was separated from her 6-month-old baby and two young children, and imprisoned for more than 2 weeks.
Asylum Office/NGO Pro Bono Partnership Guidelines for Credible Fear Process
Memo from Joseph Langlois, Chief of USCIS Asylum Division, regarding partnerships between asylum offices and non-governmental organizations to facilitate pro bono consults for individuals in the credible fear process.
Detention Standards Violations Complaint Process (Updated 12/12/07)
The DHS Enforcement and Civil Rights/Liberties Committees and ABA have prepared an updated practice advisory for advocates to use when filing detention standard violation complaints with DHS.
EOIR “Backgrounder” on Asylum Variations in Immigration Court
An 11/5/07 EOIR “Backgrounder” proposes that asylum adjudication does not lend itself to statistical analysis. The fact sheet also outlines EOIR’s efforts to ensure quality and improvement in adjudications.
Immigration Law Advisor, October 2007 (Vol. 1, No. 10)
Immigration Law Advisor, an EOIR legal publication, with an article on emerging trends of asylum claims based on female genital mutilation, federal court activity for September 2007, an article on continuances, update on recent BIA precedent decisions, and a regulatory update.
Asylum Officer Basic Training Course: Sources of Authority
This lesson describes the sources of law from which asylum officers derive their authority to act. The lesson provides an overview of the structure of the federal judicial and administrative bodies which render decisions that are binding on asylum officers.
CA9 En Banc Court Vacates Suntharalinkam v. Gonzales (Updated 11/5/07)
Over dissent by Judge Kozinski, the en banc court granted Petitioner’s motion to withdraw his petition for review, conditioned, at the government’s request, upon vacatur of the panel opinion reported at 458 F.3d 1034 (9th Cir. 2006). (Suntharalinkam v. Keisler, 10/31/07)
BIA Finds Respondent with Final Order is Barred from Filing Untimely MTR
The BIA held that an alien who is subject to a final order of removal is barred from filing an untimely motion to reopen removal proceedings to submit a successive asylum application. Matter of C-W-L-, 24 I&N Dec. 346 (BIA 2007)
Stakeholder/USCIS HQ Q & As (10/30/07)
These October 30, 2007, Q & As address Cuban parolees, religious worker case site visits, refugee travel documents, fee waivers, mismatch A numbers on I-485 receipts, waiver applications at the Mexico City District office, re-submission due to fee rejection, and more.
CA1 Finds No Past Harm or Well-Founded Fear, but Faults IJ on Credibility
Though expressing concern over the IJ’s muddled credibility finding, the court found that because Petitioner recounted only one instance of physical abuse, the record did not compel a conclusion of past persecution or a well-founded fear. (Ouk v. Keisler, 10/29/07)
AILA Liaison/NSC Q & As on Refugee/Asylee Issues (10/25/07)
The Q&As address physical presence, aged out derivatives, Liberian refugee I-485s, naturalization of principal asylee while spouse’s I-485 is pending, I-485 photos, biometrics, receipt delays and cashier’s checks, I-94 copies for I-765s, I-485 application “bundling”, and incorrect birth dates.