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 Holds Failure to Raise Past FGM in Asylum Claim Constitutes Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
CA9 found that the failure to raise FGM suffered as a girl in Somalia was ineffective assistance, holding FGM amounts to persecution on account of her particular social group, which could be defined as Somali females. (Mohammed v. Gonzales, 3/10/05)
CA3 Finds Deliberate Imposition of Severe Economic Disadvantage Is Persecution
The court held that the economic restrictions faced by Petitioner, which included a 1200 yuan fine, blacklisting from government employment, and confiscation of personal property, were severe and amounted to persecution in the aggregate. (Li v. Atty. Gen. of U.S., 3/10/05)
CA7 Overturns Asylum Denial of Falun Gong Practitioner in Scathing Opinion by Judge Posner
The court, criticizeing IJs for their “exaggerated notion” of what people know about their religions and found the inconsistencies to be trivial, held that the IJ failed to provide a rational analysis of the evidence.(Iao v. Gonzales, 3/9/05)
AILA Issue Packet on REAL ID Act
Many of the troubling anti-immigrant provisions that were stripped from the intelligence reform bill have resurfaced as part of the REAL ID Act (H.R. 418). This packet will assist you in opposing the REAL ID Act.
CA9 Grants Petition for Review of Asylum Seeker Whose Wife Was Forcibly Sterilized
CA9 held that Petitioner was entitled to withholding of removal due to the involuntary sterilization of his wife. It found that sterilization was a permanent and continuing harm and well founded fear can[t be eliminated with changed conditions or relocation. (Qu v. Gonzales, 3/8/05)
CA9 Holds “All Alien Homosexuals” Are Members of a Particular Social Group in Granting Petition for Review for Gay Lebanese Man
Court finds that a Lebanese national established a well-founded fear of persecution because he was “outed” as a homosexual and because of his AIDS infection. In so finding the Court held that “all alien homosexuals” are members of a particular social group. (Karouni v. Gonzales, 3/7/05)
CA11 Finds IJ’s Negative Credibility Determination in Haitian Asylum Claim is Supported by Substantial Evidence
Court upholds negative credibility determination where the IJ offered specific, cogent reasons for disbelieving Petitioner and Petitioner failed to submit any corroborating evidence. (Forgue v. U.S. Atty. General, 3/7/05)
NSC Sending Notices to Certain Asylee Adjustment Applicants
The Nebraska Service Center announces that it is sending Requests for Initial Evidence to asylee adjustment applicants that it has identified as eligible for adjustment in fiscal 2005 to request medical documentation and an updated Form I-693.
CA3 Says IJ’s Frivolousness Finding Violated Due Process
Noting that a finding of frivolousness is extreme because it permanently bars individuals from any immigration benefit, the court held that the IJ violated Petitioner's due process rights by failing to comply with legal requirements to make such a finding. (Muhanna v. Gonzales, 3/3/05)
USCIS Provides Lesson Plan on Interviewing – Eliciting Testimony
USCIS provided part three of its Asylum Officer Basic Training lesson plan on interviewing. This lesson provides instruction on how to elicit information from an asylum applicant in a nonadversarial manner.
CA11 Finds Colombian Asylum Applicant Failed to Establish Past Persecution
Court found that substantial evidence supported the IJ’s findings that a restaurant bombing incident was not directed at Petitioner because of her political activity, and that menacing phone calls and threats did not rise to the level of persecution. (Sepulveda v. U.S. Atty. General, 3/2/05)
USCIS Provides Lesson Plan on Introduction to UNHCR and Concepts of International Protection
USCIS released its Asylum Officer Basic Training Course lesson on international protection. This lesson describes the development of international protection of refugees, explains the role of the UNHCR and other international actors, and other elements of international protection.
Asylum Officer Basic Training Course: International Human Rights Law
This lesson provides background information on the sources of international law and its relationship with U.S. domestic law and describes many international human rights instruments.
NSC Other Product Line Teleconference Q&As (2/24/05)
NSC Other Products Line Teleconference Q&A (2-24-05) discussed I-140s, I-485s, G-28s, I-130s, approval notices, file transfers, interview notices, I-821s, I-765s, TPS, I-131s, I-824s, I-360s, I-485s for UN retirees and their children, e-filed petitions, I-602s, and fee waiver requests.
Summary and Analysis of House Version of REAL ID Act (H.R. 418)
Summary and selected analysis of provisions of the REAL ID Act of 2005 (H.R. 418), as passed by the House on 2/10/05.
CA1 Denies Asylum Based on Single Incident of Harm and Changed Conditions
The court found that Petitioner failed to show past persecution or a well-founded fear based on a single incident of harm to his father, the lack of harm to family members still in Guatemala, and changed conditions. (Rodriguez-Ramirez v. Ashcroft, 2/17/05)
CA8 Defers to IJ's Negative Credibility Determination in Asylum Denial
CA8 held that inconsistencies and omissions in Petitioner's asylum case went to the heart of her claim, and noted that a negative credibility determination is not determinative of CAT claims, but held that the IJ could properly consider the discounted credibility. (Esaka v. Ashcroft, 2/16/05)
CA10 Overturns Negative Credibility Finding Because IJ Viewed Petitioner’s Claim “Through an American Lens”
The Court found that the IJ made several unsupported assumptions about Algeria, demonstrating a view of the Algerian form of due process that was inconsistent with DOS reports. The Court further ordered that the BIA consider the Petitioner’s CAT claim. (Chaib v. Ashcroft, 2/14/05)
CA8 Denies Somali Asylum Due to No Past Persecution, Lack of Credibility and Safe Petitioner Relocation
The Court upheld the IJ’s findings that there was insufficient proof that Petitioner was harmed because of her Benadir clan membership or imputed political opinion. (Mohamed v. Ashcroft, 2/10/05)
AILA Overview of Amendments to the REAL ID Act
The REAL ID Act passed the House on 2/10/05 by a vote of 261 to 161, notwithstanding the many grave problems with the bill and opposition from a broad range of groups, and the flawed process under which it was considered and passed. View a summary of the amendments.
Sign-on Letter Opposing Representative Sensenbrenner's Amendment to the REAL ID Act"
A letter from AILA and over forty diverse organizations to Members of Congress asking that they vote against the REAL ID Act (H.R.418) introduced by Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-WI).
CA6 Upholds IJ’s Negative Credibility Determination; Remands for Specific Credibility Determination on CAT Claims
The Sixth Circuit held that because the IJ failed to make a specific credibility finding regarding torture, his case should be remanded. (Singh v. Ashcroft, 2/8/05)
CA1 Upholds Denial of Asylum for Coptic Christian from Egypt
The court upheld the IJ’s determination that Petitioner lacked a subjective fear of persecution because he returned to Egypt on three separate occasions, and failed to corroborate his claim of past persecution. (Diab v. Ashcroft, 2/8/05)
Refugee Protection—Upholding an American Tradition
AILA welcomes the USCIRF findings in a study mandated by Congress on asylum seekers in expedited removal. H.R. 418 goes against the Commission’s recommendations and our traditions, and ignores the reforms that have been undertaken in the asylum system.
CA3 Says Racial Slurs Not Proof of Ethnic Persecution
The court found that use of racial slurs by Petitioners’ attackers was not adequate proof that the attackers were motivated by ethnicity, and that two robberies did not amount to persecution because they resulted in only theft of property and minor injuries. (Lie v. Ashcroft, 2/7/05)