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
CA1 Affirms BIA Denial of MTR, Dismisses Challenge to BIA’s Sua Sponte Denial
The court affirmed that potential LPR eligibility is not an exceptional circumstance that can overcome time/number bars on MTRs, and it denied jurisdiction to review the BIA’s sua sponte denial to reopen. (Lemus v. Sessions, 8/14/18)
CA8 Affirms Denial, Agrees No Changed Country Conditions Exist that Would Remedy Untimely Filing
The court denied jurisdiction to review asylum denial for untimeliness, agreeing that IJ did not err in determining no exceptional circumstance was met; it also held evidence of political violence submitted to BIA was properly deemed immaterial. (Degbe v. Sessions, 8/13/18)
Documents Related to Hawaii Travel Ban Case
The state of Hawaii, Ismail Elshikh, John Does 1 and 2, and the Muslim Association of Hawaii voluntarily dismissed their action as to all parties and claims. (Hawaii v. Trump, 8/13/18)
New Partners in the Fight for Due Process
Karen Lucas, Director of the Immigration Justice Campaign in which AILA and the Council are partnered, describes new ways the campaign is meeting the needs of detained immigrants, including a recent partnership with Save the Children.
CA8 Holds BIA Failed to Address Merits of MTR for Asylum, Remands for Determination in the First Instance
The court concluded the BIA abused its discretion by not considering the medical “exceptional circumstance” claim for missing asylum hearing; also, BIA did not explicitly rule on whether petitioner’s specific departure was abandonment of asylum application. (Payeras v. Sessions, 8/9/18)
CA8 Affirms Asylum Denial for Mother, Remands to Properly Consider Applications of Children
The court confirmed petitioner failed to prove membership in PSG, agreeing she was targeted because she refused to divulge whereabouts of her brother who fled recruitment; her children, however, raised additional PSG basis that was not adequately considered. (De Rivas v. Sessions, 8/8/18)
CA9 Dismisses Review for Lack of Jurisdiction, Holds No Final Order of Removal Exists
The court held petitioner’s first departure executed removal order; upon expiration of subsequent parole, ICE wrongly put him into VWP asylum-only proceedings. CA9 held the resulting asylum denial was not a final finding of removability for jurisdiction. (Nicusor-Remus v. Sessions, 8/8/18)
USCIS Provides Q&As from August Teleconference with Asylum Division
USCIS provided Q&As from the 8/7/18 quarterly engagement, including updated statistics, scheduling of asylum interviews/processing times, unaccompanied children, the EAD clock, asylum interviews, one-year filing deadlines, training, travel, adjustment of status, and more.
District Court Orders USCIS to Timely Adjudicate Initial EAD Asylum Applications
Following summary judgment briefing by both parties, the court ruled in Plaintiffs' favor on July 26, 2018. The court ordered USCIS to follow the law and timely adjudicate initial EAD asylum applications. (Gonzalez Rosario v. USCIS, 7/26/18)
CA10 Confirms BIA Did Not Err in Dismissing Motion to Reconsider and Appeal of Adverse Withholding Decision Based on Particular Social Group Claims
In a non-precedent decision, the court affirmed petitioner was not a member of “Salvadoran women unable to leave domestic relationships,” and that petitioner failed to show that two other proposed particular social groups of Salvadoran women were socially distinct. (Lopez v. Sessions, 8/6/18)
Amendment Blocking the Implementation of Matter of A-B- Puts a Dent in the Deportation Machine
In this blog, Alyson Sincavage, Senior Policy Counsel at AILA, writes about an amendment blocking the implementation of Matter of A-B-, passed in last week's appropriations bill.
CA5 Upholds BIA/IJ Findings that Petitioner Does Not Qualify for Withholding of Removal
The court affirmed petitioner was not persecuted on account of imputed political opinion or membership in PSG of Roma family members; denied jurisdiction to review derivative asylum claim and CAT denial for lack of administrative exhaustion. (Revencu v. Sessions, 7/12/18, revised 8/2/18)
CA5 Rejects IJ/BIA Finding that Mann Party Sikh Asylum Applicant Could “Safely and Reasonably Relocate”
The court remanded, holding that DHS did not offer any evidence that the specific petitioner could safely relocate within India, despite the success of others similarly situated, and, thus, failed to meet its burden of proof. (Singh v. Sessions, 8/2/18)
Updated FAQs on Mendez Rojas v. Johnson
The American Immigration Council, Dobrin & Han, PC, and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project provide a FAQ on a court decision that ensures asylum seekers have notice of the one-year filing deadline and an adequate mechanism to timely file applications.
Detaining Families: A Study of Asylum Adjudication in Family Detention
The American Immigration Council released a report that draws on thousands of government records over a 15-year period and highlights the multiple barriers to justice families seeking asylum face while in detention, as well as the important role the courts have played in protecting due process.
CA8 Affirms IJ/BIA Applied Correct Legal Standard to Protected Ground Analysis for Asylum Denial
The court held that IJ/BIA correctly considered whether applicant’s social group (son of police officer) or political opinion was “one central reason” for harm, despite adverse conclusion that they were merely incidental to gang recruitment efforts. (Gomez-Rivera v. Sessions, 7/31/18)
USCIS Provides Statistics on NACARA Cases Through 7/31/18
The USCIS Asylum Division provides cumulative NACARA workload statistics from 6/21/99 through 7/31/18.
USCIS Asylum Office Workload for July 2018
USCIS provides statistics on affirmative asylum office workload, including stages of asylum cases (filed, interviews conducted, completed, pending), broken down by office and nationality of applicants for July 2018.
Tearing Families Apart in More Ways Than One
In this blog post, AILA member Ally Bolour highlights how the use of Ryan White Care Act (RWCA) funds for the family separation policy could have an impact on low-income families seeking treatment for HIV.
CA9 Remands for Application of Presumption of Future Persecution on Account of Religion
The court held IJ/BIA erred in concluding harm was one incident that did not rise to past persecution; rather, government condition of release preventing petitioner from practicing his religion was ongoing harm that compelled a finding of past persecution. (Guo v. Sessions, 7/30/18)
USCIS Postpones Implementation of Policy Memo on Issuance of Notices to Appear
USCIS announced that its components have yet to issue new or updated operational guidance on Notices to Appear (NTAs) and Referrals to ICE (RTIs), as instructed by the 6/28/18 policy memo on NTAs; therefore, implementation of the 6/28/18 memo is postponed until the operational guidance is issued.
TRAC Reports that Credible Fear Findings Plummet Amid Widely Disparate Outcomes by Location and Judge
TRAC found that immigration court outcomes in credible fear reviews (CFR) have recently undergone a dramatic change. Starting in January 2018, court findings of credible fear began to plummet. By June 2018, only 14.7 percent of the CFR decisions found the asylum seeker had a "credible fear."
Retired IJs and Former Members of the BIA Statement in Response to Latest Attack on Judicial Independence
On 7/30/18, retired IJs and former members of the BIA issued a statement in response to EOIR’s actions on July 26, 2018. EOIR had removed a sitting IJ from the case of Castro-Tum and replaced the IJ with an ACIJ without explanation. The ACIJ ordered Mr. Castro-Tum removed in absentia.
AILA Philadelphia Attorneys Condemn Administration's Assault on Immigrants and Due Process
The AILA Philadelphia Chapter issued a statement condemning EOIR’s removal of a sitting immigration judge (IJ) from the case of Castro-Tum, replacing the IJ with an Assistant Chief Immigration Judge (ACIJ) without explanation. The ACIJ ordered Mr. Castro-Tum removed in absentia.
CA6 Remands, Holds BIA Erred on Multiple Counts in Overturning IJ’s Grants of Asylum and §237(a)(1)(H) Waiver
The court held that the BIA’s asylum denial went against its own precedent and was an abuse of discretion because it unreasonably weighed one negative factor of visa misrepresentation against the IJ’s finding of many positive factors. (Hussam F. v. Sessions, 7/27/18)