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
You’d Think the Threat of Death Would Be Enough
In this blog post, AILA President Jeremy McKinney describes a recent win for his client in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that will help protect asylum seekers and how this case only emphasizes why we need an independent immigration court, free from politicization.
USCIS Provides Information on Form I-589 Intake and Processing Delays
USCIS is experiencing delays in issuing receipts for Form I-589. For purposes of the asylum one-year filing deadline, affirmative asylum interview scheduling priorities, and EAD eligibility, the filing date will still be the date USCIS received the I-589 and not the date it was processed.
CA9 Rejects Asylum Applicant’s Claim of Extraordinary Circumstances Based on His Alleged “Incapacity or Legal Disability”
The court rejected petitioner’s argument that a delay in filing his asylum application was justified by extraordinary circumstances due to his youth, language barrier, ignorance of the legal requirement to file his application within a year, and stress. (Martinez Alquijay v. Garland, 7/27/22)
Washington, DC Chapter: USCIS Stakeholder Engagement Meeting Minutes (7/27/22)
Notes from Washington, D.C., Chapter’s stakeholder engagement meeting with USCIS’s Arlington Asylum Office on 7/27/22.
CA5 Remands Asylum Claim After Finding Purported Inconsistencies in Angolan Petitioner’s Testimony Were Not Actually Inconsistent
The court held that the IJ’s adverse credibility finding relied heavily on an unsupported conclusion that petitioner was not a credible witness, and thus that the adverse credibility finding was not supported by specific and cogent reasons derived from the record. (Ndudzi v. Garland, 7/22/22)
AILA and Partners Call on Biden Administration to End MPP Following Supreme Court Decision
In light of the SCOTUS ruling in Biden v. Texas, immigrant and refugee rights organizations and service providers sent a letter urging the Administration to take immediate action to wind down the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) and redress the harm suffered by those subjected to it.
Abuse in ICE Detention Continues and So Does the Funding for It
AILA Policy Counsel Jen Whitlock describes the reports and examples of harmful, unnecessary, and wasteful ICE detention and urges readers to take action and tell Congress to reduce ICE detention bed funding for Fiscal Year 2023.
Civil Society Organizations Urge Congress to Not Codify Title 42 Border Expulsions in Spending Bills
AILA joined civil society organizations in urging House leaders to not include amendments that would legislatively codify and indefinitely prolong Title 42 border expulsions in any FY2023 spending bills that receive a vote on the House floor.
CA6 Grants Motion for Stay to Dominican Petitioner with Strong Showing of Irreparable Harm
Where the parties agreed that petitioner would likely be tortured if removed to the Dominican Republic, the court granted the motion for a stay, finding that his arguments presented a sufficient likelihood of success to weigh in favor of granting a stay. (Rondon Antonio v. Garland, 6/29/22)
Follow Litigation over Asylum Processing Interim Final Rule
Follow developments in the two separate cases challenging the Biden Administration’s interim final rule (IFR) on asylum processing in federal court. The IFR went into effect on May 31, 2022.
CA9 Remands Asylum Claim of Armenian Petitioner Where IJ’s Findings of Inconsistencies Were Not Supported by Record
Granting the petition for review of the denial of the Armenian petitioner’s asylum application, the court held that three out of four inconsistencies the BIA relied upon in upholding the IJ’s adverse credibility determination were not supported by the record. (Barseghyan v. Garland, 7/8/22)
CA7 Upholds BIA’s Reversal of CAT Relief as to Mexican Petitioner Threatened by Familia Michoacan Cartel
Where the BIA had vacated the IJ’s grant of deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) and had ordered the petitioner removed to Mexico, the court held that the BIA had correctly stated and properly applied the clear error standard of review. (Brito v. Garland, 7/7/22)
Immigration and the Power of Storytelling
In this blog post, AILA member John Wheaton writes on the power of storytelling in bringing people together and creating community, encouraging his fellow attorneys to consider asking clients to share their stories and increase understanding of the immigrant experience.
SCOTUS Gets it Right: The Biden Administration Can End the Inhumane Remain in Mexico Program
AILA Policy and Practice Counsel Amy Grenier describes the recent Supreme Court decision, affirming the Biden administration can indeed end the inhumane Remain in Mexico/Migrant Protection Protocols implemented by the Trump administration, and previews what comes next.
USCIS Issues Memo on Language Access in Credible Fear Screenings
USCIS issued a memo with updated guidance on providing language access in credible fear interviews. These procedures are effective 7/8/22 and supersede the procedures outlined in a 3/26/20 memo.
CA9 Upholds Denial of Third Motion to Reopen Based on Allegedly New and Material Country Conditions Evidence in Bangladesh
The court denied the parties’ motion for judicial administrative closure, and denied the petition for review of the BIA’s denial of the petitioner’s third motion to reopen based on new evidence of the growing influence of Jihadist extremists in Bangladesh. (Sarkar, et al. v. Garland, 7/1/22)
U.S. Supreme Court Affirms the Biden Administration’s Authority to End MPP
AILA welcomed the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in Biden v. Texas, which affirmed the Biden Administration’s authority to end the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy, officially known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP).
BIA Finds an IJ May Rely on Impeachment Evidence
The BIA found that an IJ may rely on impeachment evidence as part of a credibility determination where the evidence is probative and its admission is not fundamentally unfair, and the witness is able to respond to that evidence. Matter of E-F-N-, 28 I&N Dec. 591 (BIA 2022)
USCIS Will Conduct Selected Interviews for OAW Asylum Applicants at Local Field Offices
USCIS published a chart that lists locations where Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) asylum applicants who qualify for expeditious processing may have their asylum interviews as USCIS asylum officers will participate in periodic “circuit rides” to USCIS field offices.
CA5 Upholds Denial of Motion to Reopen to Chinese Christians in Indonesia Pursuant to INA §240(c)(7)(C)(ii)
Where the BIA had denied petitioners’ motion to reopen after finding they had not demonstrated changed country conditions in Indonesia, the court denied the petition for review, finding that petitioners’ claims were number-barred under INA §240(c)(7)(C)(ii). (Djie, et al. v. Garland, 6/29/22)
CA2 Says Dual National Need Only Show Persecution in Any Singular Country of Nationality to Be Considered a “Refugee”
The court granted the petition for review, holding that to qualify as a “refugee” under INA §101(a)(42)(A), a dual national asylum applicant need only show persecution in any singular country of nationality. (Zepeda-Lopez, et al. v. Garland, 6/28/22)
CA9 Grants Petition for Panel Rehearing and Withdraws Prior Opinion in Etemadi v. Garland
The court granted the petition for panel rehearing and withdrew its 9/9/21 opinion, which held that the law-of-the-case doctrine did not require it to accept a prior Ninth Circuit panel’s determination that the petitioner was not a Christian. (Etemadi v. Garland, 6/23/22)
DHS and DOS Notice of Exemption from Inadmissibility for Certain Individuals Who Assisted the U.S. in Afghanistan
DHS and DOS notice exempting certain individuals who assisted the United States in Afghanistan from inadmissibility under INA §212(a)(3)(B). (87 FR 37522, 6/23/22)
DHS and DOS Notice of Exemption from Inadmissibility for Certain Afghan Civil Servants
DHS and DOS notice exempting certain individuals employed as civil servants in Afghanistan between 9/27/96 and 12/22/01, or after 8/15/21, from inadmissibility under INA §212(a)(3)(B). (87 FR 37524, 6/23/22)
DHS and DOS Notice of Exemption from Inadmissibility Due to Insignificant or Limited Material Support
DHS and DOS notice exempting individuals who provided insignificant or certain limited material support to a designated terrorist organization from inadmissibility under INA §212(a)(3)(B). (87 FR 37523, 6/23/22)