Asylum
Asylum grants legal protection to foreign nationals already in the U.S. or arriving at the border who can’t go back to their home country because of persecution. Learn more about the asylum system in the United States, including how asylum is defined, eligibility requirements, and the difficult and complex application process.
Asylum Is In Danger After Court Upholds Rushed Screening Process at the Border
The Trump administration secretly implemented one of its most horrific attacks on America’s long tradition of asylum—holding asylum seekers in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody during their initial asylum interview. The “Prompt Asylum Claim Review” and “Humanitarian Asylum Review Process,” (“PACR/HARP”) put in place in October 2019,… Read More
Trump’s ‘Death to Asylum’ Rule Will Go Into Effect Days Before He Leaves Office
The Trump administration has finalized a sweeping regulation that will effectively end asylum protection in the United States. The regulation, which was proposed in June, is set to go into effect on January 11—only nine days before President Trump leaves office. If implemented, it will mean that very few… Read More
New Rule Spells Death for the Asylum System—AILA and the Council Urge the Biden Administration to Prioritize its Undoing
The American Immigration Lawyers Association and the American Immigration Council urge the Biden administration to prioritize undoing of new rule that spells death for the asylum system Read More
The Trump Administration Will Inflict More Damage to the Immigration System Before Leaving Office
As the Biden-Harris administration prepares to take office, many anxiously await what immigration policies the Trump administration will finalize in the lead up to Inauguration Day in the form of new regulations, memos, and proclamations. While it may be a “lame duck” period, it is one of the busiest as… Read More
Who Is Alejandro Mayorkas? The New DHS Secretary Will Spearhead Biden’s Immigration Agenda
The incoming Biden-Harris administration has announced its choice for secretary of the Department of Homeland Security: Alejandro Mayorkas. If confirmed, Mayorkas will represent several historic firsts for the department—he will be the first Latino and immigrant to lead DHS. This is a significant departure from the… Read More
Discriminatory Treatment of Haitians Throughout History Informs Current Policy at the US-Mexico Border
For years, the Trump administration has argued that limited capacity at ports of entry led to its policy of turning back asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border (the “turnback policy”). But a recent amicus—or “friend of the court”—brief filed in a lawsuit challenging this policy argues that the true… Read More
Council Files Amicus Brief on Opportunity for Detained Migrants with Prior Removal Orders Seeking Humanitarian Protection to be Released on Bond
The amicus brief in Pham v. Guzman Chavez urges the Supreme Court to find that the pre-final order detention statute applies to detained noncitizens with prior removal orders who have meritorious claims for a form of humanitarian protection known as withholding of removal. Read More
Lawsuit Demands Records on the Treatment of Migrant Children at the Border During COVID-19 Pandemic
Children and immigration advocacy groups filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of Illinois against CBP requesting information about the agency’s implementation of the CDC rule suspending people from entering the United States due to the COVID 19 pandemic and its specific impact on unaccompanied migrant children fleeing harm and seeking protection in the United States. Read More
The Government Wants Immigrants to Show Up for Court—But Neglects to Tell Them How to Attend Their Hearings
Over 60,000 people at the southern border have been forced to return to Mexico under the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as the “Remain in Mexico” program. As they get sent back, U.S. government officials give them insufficient information about how to attend their immigration court… Read More
Council Submits Amicus Brief on Insufficiency of Notice in Migrant Protection Protocols Proceedings
The brief argues that DHS’ service practices for MPP tear sheets deny respondents their statutory right to notice of the time and place of their removal proceedings, their statutory right to a full and fair hearing, and, consequently, due process of law. Read More
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