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
Final Rule Extending Application of U.S.-Canada Safe Third Country Agreement to Individuals who Cross between Official POEs
Final rule to extend the application of the 2002 Safe Third Country Agreement between the U.S. and Canada to individuals who cross between official POEs, pursuant to the Additional Protocol of 2022 negotiated by the U.S. and Canada. The final rule is effective on 3/25/23. (88 FR 18227, 3/28/23)
AILA and the Council Submit Comments on Circumvention of Lawful Pathways Proposed Rule
AILA and the American Immigration Council submitted comments in response to a DHS/DOJ proposed rulemaking notice, Circumvention of Lawful Pathways, urging the Biden Administration to “remain true to its commitment to asylum law and humanitarian protections.”
Practice Pointer: IJs Should Not Be Offering Expedited Trial Dates and Stopping EAD Clocks on That Basis
The EOIR Liaison Committee provides practice guidance from its February 2023 meeting with EOIR that IJs should not be asking if asylum applicants want an expedited trial date and that the EAD clock should not be stopped if the applicant refuses.
Why Finding Your Pro Bono Opportunity Can Help YOU
AILA's Practice and Professionalism Center highlights a few recent “Pro Bono High Fives,“ featuring AILA members, to inspire and encourage others to use their legal expertise to change lives, and maybe have some fun too!
Fourth Extension of Effective Date of USCIS Temporary Final Rule on Interpreters at Asylum Interviews
USCIS extension of the effective date of the temporary final rule on interpreters at asylum interviews published at 85 FR 59655, which was set to expire on 3/16/23, through 9/12/23. (88 FR 16372, 3/17/23)
Free and Freeing: AILA’s Law Student Membership
AILA member Marisabel Alonso encourages all current law students interested in immigration law to take advantage of the many benefits of AILA's free law student membership and how those benefits can help them during law school and beyond as they become practitioners.
AILA and Partners Send Letter Urging End to the Asylum EAD Clock
AILA and partner organizations urge USCIS and EOIR to eliminate the “asylum clock” for EADs, calling on the agencies to engage in rulemaking and remove the language from 8 CFR § 208.7(a)(2) that established the need to account for applicant-caused delays through an asylum clock.
Research on Country Conditions for Lawyers Representing Central America Asylum Seekers
The Annotated Table of Contents Project, a collaboration between Temple University Beasley School of Law and the Washington Office on Latin America, aims to provide asylum lawyers with detailed and compelling country conditions information to support their asylum applications.
An Under-Resourced Obama-Era Refugee and Parole Program Could Be A Safe and Legal Pathway Too
Linda Evarts and Jen Whitlock urge the Biden Administration to review the Obama-era Central American Minors (CAM) parole program as it expands the use of parole to other populations, noting the lack of resources and attention to the implementation of the program has kept families separated.
Practice Pointer: Changing Client Addresses for Asylum Applications Filed Online
USCIS now allows online filing of Form I-589 via the myUSCIS portal. This practice pointer offers some possible solutions for the post-filing challenge of changing a client’s address on a pending I-589 filed online.
USCIS Responds to AILA Regarding Improving Asylum EAD Efficiencies
USCIS issued a response to 12/12/22 letter from AILA with recommendations to improve asylum EAD efficiencies. USCIS stated that it is working to improve internal processes to reduce application processing times and has allocated funds for overtime work while also focusing on hiring staff.
DHS and DOJ Proposed Rule to Establish an Asylum “Transit Ban”
DHS and DOJ proposed rule to establish a rebuttable presumption of asylum ineligibility for certain noncitizens who enter at the southwest border without documentation and traveled through a country that is a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol. (88 FR 11704, 2/23/23)
Practice Brief: The Proposed Asylum Transit Ban Creates Access to Asylum in Name Only
AILA issues this initial response to the proposed regulation “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways.” This proposed regulation adds unnecessary complexity to the asylum process that will become insurmountable barriers to asylum, especially to those who do not have legal counsel.
AILA and the Council Submit Comments on the Delay of the Effective Date on Security Bars and Processing Notice
AILA and the American Immigration Council submitted comments in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Security Bars and Processing: Delay of Effective Date, urging the Biden Administration to rescind the Final Rule in its entirety.
AILA Condemns Biden Administration’s Push to Use “Transit Ban” Against Vulnerable Asylum Seekers
AILA urged the Biden Administration to change course and stop the effort to establish a “transit ban” against vulnerable asylum seekers, calling the NPRM the administration unveiled today unworkable and a violation of U.S. asylum law.
CA9 Says Petitioner Was Required to File Separate Cross-Appeal to Challenge IJ’s Alternative Order on Merits of His Claims
The court held that BIA permissibly declined to consider petitioner’s challenges to IJ’s alternative denial of withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) because he did not file a cross-appeal of that determination. (Lopez Hernandez v. Garland, 2/16/23)
CA11 Remands Asylum Claim of Cuban Petitioner Who Claimed He Was in Severe Danger in Cuba Due to His Political Beliefs
Granting the petition for review, the court held that two purported inconsistencies in the record were not supported by reasonable, substantial, and probative evidence, and thus could not form the basis for an adverse credibility determination as to petitioner. (Serra v. Att’y Gen., 2/15/23)
CA8 Rejects Honduran Petitioner’s Claim That Any Actual or Imputed Political Opinion Was a Central Reason for His Mistreatment
The court found that the BIA’s determination that the petitioner had never expressed any political opinion or anti-corruption sentiment and that the MS-13 gang had never imputed such a position to him when it threatened him was supported by the record. (Aguilar Montecinos v. Garland, 2/10/23)
Sixty Nonprofits, Including AILA, Submit Amicus on Harm of Title 42
Sixty nonprofits, including AILA, submit an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in Arizona et al., v. Mayorkas arguing that the Title 42 expulsion policy puts countless people in genuine life-and-death circumstances who merely seek legal process, in the hope that it could bring them safety.
CA1 Upholds Asylum Denial to Honduran Petitioners Who Received Death Threats as Family Unit
Upholding the BIA’s denial of petitioners’ request for asylum, the court held that petitioners’ receipt of death threats in Honduras as a family unit did not convert the non-protected criminal motivation into persecution on the basis of family connections. (Barnica-Lopez v. Garland, 2/8/23)
CA5 Upholds Denial of Asylum to Petitioner Who Had Allegedly Been Arrested and Tortured by Cameroonian Government
The court rejected the Cameroonian petitioner’s argument that the BIA had ignored substantial record evidence, including country-conditions evidence that allegedly corroborated his claims for asylum and related relief. (Mohndamenang v. Garland, 2/6/23)
AILA Statement for House Oversight Committee Hearing on the Southern Border
AILA submitted a statement for the House Oversight Committee’s February 7, 2023, hearing on the southern border. AILA urges Congress and the Biden Administration to take immediate action to build a fair, humane, and orderly asylum process and to improve the entire immigration system.
Practice Alert: Regulations on Government Websites May Be Enjoined
AILA’s Asylum & Refugee Committee provides a reminder that many enjoined regulations relating to asylum law and other areas of immigration law may appear on government websites. Alert includes information on OIL’s Currently Effective Regulations Handout, useful for tracking and citing current law.
USCIS Updates Guidance on Asylee and Refugee Adjustment One-Year Physical Presence Requirement
USCIS updated guidance to clarify that both asylees and refugees must have been physically present in the United States for one year when USCIS adjudicates their I-485, rather than at the time they file it. This applies to all I-485s and N-400s pending on 2/2/23 and those filed on or after 2/2/23.
CA1 Remands CAT Claim of Petitioner Who Was Hospitalized Following Police-Aided Assault in Guatemala
Where the petitioner had fled Guatemala after he had been hospitalized following an assault that appeared to be aided by the police, the court granted the petition for review as to the petitioner’s Convention Against Torture (CAT) claim and remanded. (Hernandez-Martinez v. Garland, 2/2/23)