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
EOIR Updates Guidance on Immigration Court Practices During the COVID-19 Pandemic
EOIR issued a policy memo updating its guidance regarding practices adopted by its adjudicatory components related to COVID-19. This policy memo is effective immediately and supersedes the March 18, 2020, policy memo on immigration court practices during the COVID-19 outbreak.
EOIR To Resume Hearings in Non-Detained Cases at the Honolulu Immigration Court
EOIR announced that it plans to resume individual (merits) non-detained hearings at the Honolulu Immigration Court on June 15, 2020. EOIR will also resume master calendar dockets involving relatively small number of respondents.
CA2 Remands CAT Claim of Petitioner Who Fled El Salvador After Threats from MS-13 Gang
The court held that the IJ erred as a matter of law in penalizing the petitioner for her prompt flight from El Salvador after members of the MS-13 gang threatened her, and thus remanded her Convention Against Torture (CAT) claim to the BIA. (Martinez De Artiga v. Barr, 6/10/20)
Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $1 Billion Dollars Without Changes at USCIS
AILA Director of Government Relations Sharvari Dalal-Dheini shares insights from her time at USCIS related to the agency's request to Congress for $1.2 billion, and urges Congress to “ensure that the agency is transparent about its spending, accountable for its inefficiencies, and on track towards f
CA4 Reverses District Court with Instructions to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ Complaints in Travel Ban Case
In light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. Hawaii, the court reversed the district court’s order of May 2, 2019, denying the government’s motion to dismiss, and remanded with instructions to dismiss the plaintiffs’ complaints with prejudice. (IRAP v. Trump, 6/8/20)
CA5 Upholds BIA’s Denial of Asylum to Petitioner from Trinidad and Tobago Who Alleged Membership in Three PSGs
The court held that petitioner had failed to demonstrate a legal or constitutional error in BIA’s denial of his application for asylum based on membership in three alleged particular social groups (PSGs), including children unable to leave a family relationship. (Alexis v. Barr, 6/8/20)
TRAC Releases Report on the Impact of Immigration Court Hearing Cancellations Due to COVID-19
TRAC estimates that cancelled immigration court hearings due to COVID-19 will “increase hearing delays for months and probably years to come.” TRAC estimates that with scheduling delays in the court’s exiting backlog taken into account, 850,000 immigrants may well be affected by the shutdown.
CA9 Says Government Failed to Afford Petitioners Due Process in Terminating Their Asylum Status
Granting the petition for review, the court held that the government violated the petitioners’ due process rights by failing to provide them a full and fair opportunity to rebut the government’s fraud allegations before terminating their asylum status. (Grigoryan v. Barr, 6/2/20)
DOJ OIG Releases Audit of EOIR's FY2019 Financial Management Practices
DOJ OIG released an audit of EOIR's financial management practices, identifying weaknesses in EOIR's budget planning process. The report recommends that EOIR make better use of financial management data available to leadership and that leadership improve its communications with its budget staff.
DOS OIG Issues Report Noting That Quarterly Reporting on Afghan Special Immigrant Visa Program Needs Improvement
DOS OIG released a report noting that the method for collecting, verifying, and reporting applicant wait times for the Afghan SIV program is "inconsistent and potentially flawed" and that the entities responsible for reporting wait times are using different methodologies to calculate them.
SCOTUS Held that Courts Can Review Factual Challenges to a CAT Order
The Supreme Court found that 8 U. S. C. § 1252(a)(2)(C) and (D) do not preclude judicial review of factual challenges to an order denying relief under CAT, which protects noncitizens from removal to a country where they would likely face torture. (Nasrallah v. Barr, 6/1/20)
USCIS Publishes FY2019 Report on the Use of Special Immigrant Status for Iraqis and Afghanis
USCIS published a report showing the number of individuals who applied for status as special immigrants in FY2019 under the programs authorized by Section 1244 of the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act of 2007 and Section 602(b) of the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009.
DHS OIG Reports That CBP Separated More Asylum-Seeking Families at Ports of Entry Than Reported
DHS OIG reported CBP separated at least 60 asylum-seeking families from May 6-July 9, 2018, despite reporting only seven separations. DHS OIG determined that the separations were based solely on the parents’ prior nonviolent immigration violations and were inconsistent with DHS’s public messaging.
CA8 Upholds Denial of Asylum to Salvadoran Who Claimed He Would Face Persecution by Mara 18 Gang Members
The court found that the BIA’s denial of asylum to the petitioner, a citizen of El Salvador who claimed he would suffer persecution based on his opposition to joining the Mara 18 gang, was supported by substantial evidence in the record. (Prieto-Pineda v. Barr, 5/28/20)
AILA: Trump Administration’s Indefinite Border Closure Is a Campaign Tool, Not a Public Safety Measure
AILA Executive Director Benjamin Johnson responds to the announcement by DHS and the CDC extending indefinitely their order blocking entry to asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Practice Pointer: Motion to Continue Proceedings During COVID-19
The AILA EOIR Liaison Committee provides this practice pointer as a resource for those seeking to continue proceedings where current circumstances interfere with the ability to timely produce quality work in a professional and ethical matter.
CA6 Holds BIA Erred in Finding That Asylum-Seeking Mayan Indigenous Woman Could Reasonably Relocate Within Guatemala
The court found that the BIA’s conclusion that the government showed by a preponderance of the evidence that the Guatemalan petitioner could internally relocate and that it would be reasonable for her to do so was not supported by substantial evidence. (Juan Antonio v. Barr, 5/19/20)
CA1 Upholds Denial of Asylum to Salvadoran Petitioner Where IJ and BIA Relied on Boston’s “Gang Assessment Database”
The court upheld the BIA’s denial of asylum, finding that the IJ’s adverse credibility determination was supported by substantial evidence, and that the introduction of law enforcement gang database records did not violate the petitioner’s due process rights. (Diaz Ortiz v. Barr, 5/15/20)
CA5 Upholds BIA’s Asylum Denial to Mexican Petitioner Whose Father Was Extorted by Zetas Drug Cartel
Finding that substantial evidence supported BIA’s denial of asylum, the court held that petitioner had failed to meet his burden to establish that it would be unreasonable for him to relocate to another part of Mexico, away from his father’s extortionists. (Munoz-Granados v. Barr, 5/12/20)
Trump Administration’s Continued Disdain for U.S. Asylum Law and Lack of Concern for Vulnerable Asylum Seekers on Display at Border
AILA opposes MPP and the new procedures announced Sunday, May 10, which create more confusion and instability for the thousands of asylum seekers waiting for their U.S. immigration court hearings in violent and dangerous conditions in Mexico.
AILA and the American Immigration Council Obtain EOIR Hiring Plan via FOIA Litigation
On 4/21/20, AILA and the Council obtained via FOIA litigation the EOIR IJ and AIJ hiring process, approved by Attorney General Barr on 3/8/19. This document revises both the IJ hiring process implemented on 3/28/18, and the process for hiring BIA members implemented on 9/12/07.
New Documents Reveal Immigration Judge Hiring Plan Designed to Stack the Courts, Prioritize Politics Over Justice
AILA Executive Director Benjamin Johnson and American Immigration Council Executive Director Beth Werlin react to documents obtained by the organizations via FOIA revealing DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review’s updated hiring plan for Immigration Judges and Appellate Immigration Judges.
DHS Notice Containing Text of Asylum Cooperative Agreement with Honduras
DHS notice containing the text of the Asylum Cooperative Agreement between the United States and Honduras, which was signed on 9/25/19. (85 FR 25462, 5/1/20)
EOIR Swears in Three New Board Members
EOIR announced the investiture of three new members to the Board of Immigration Appeals. The new members were appointed by Attorney General William Barr in April 2020. Notice includes the new Board members’ biographical information.
CA1 Upholds Denial of Motion to Reopen of Chinese Buddhist Petitioner in Indonesia
The court upheld the BIA’s denial of untimely motion to reopen, finding that the petitioner, who alleged that she faced harm in Indonesia based on her Chinese ethnicity and Buddhist religion, had not met her burden to show materially changed country conditions. (Sutarsim v. Barr, 5/1/20)