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.
Department of Justice Eliminates Diversity and Inclusion Training for All Immigration Judges
At a time when tensions over race in the United States are high, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in an October 8 memo that it will cancel all diversity and inclusion trainings for its staff of over 115,000 people. The decision could have a… Read More
Comment on DHS Proposed Rule to Drastically Expand the Definition and Collection of Biometrics
The American Immigration Council, the Immigration Defense Clinic at Colorado Law, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association, submitted a comment in opposition to the Department of Homeland Security proposed rule on the "Collection and Use of Biometrics by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services." Read More
The Difference Between Asylum and Withholding of Removal
This fact sheet provides an overview of withholding of removal, including the basics of seeking protection in the United States, eligibility requirements, the application process, and data on applicants. Read More
USCIS is Preventing Asylum Seekers from Bringing Their Own Interpreters to Interviews
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has implemented a new temporary rule preventing affirmative asylum seekers—who request asylum while already physically present in the United States— from bringing their own interpreters to asylum interviews. Instead, the government will provide free telephonic interpretation in 47 languages. The agency says… Read More
Proposed 15-Day Filing Rule for Asylum Seekers Is Designed to Be Impossible
The Trump administration has spent most of the year trying to destroy asylum law—and the blows keep coming. On Sept. 23, the Department of Justice proposed yet another regulation aimed at certain asylum seekers that would stop all but the lucky few from receiving protections. How the Rule Would… Read More
Immigrant Rights Advocates Ask Court to Permanently Block Trump Policy Turning Back Asylum Seekers
Asylum seekers who have been turned back by U.S. Customs and Border Protection from ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border asked a federal court to permanently stop the Trump administration’s Turnback Policy and declare it unlawful. Read More
Judge Says “Poppycock!” to Trump Program That Let Border Patrol Screen Asylum Applicants
A federal court on Monday halted a secretive program started under the Trump administration that allowed Border Patrol agents to be harsh gatekeepers to the asylum process. The court rejected the government’s defense of the program as “poppycock.” In spring 2019, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) quietly began… Read More
Detained Immigrants Ask Court to Stop ICE Interference to Phone Access in Immigration Detention Centers
Individuals in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody at the Otero County Processing Center filed a motion for preliminary injunction to stop ICE from denying detained individuals the ability to contact their lawyers and the outside world by phone. Read More
Cuccinelli and Wolf Were Found Ineligible to Serve at DHS. What Happens Next?
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) top two officials are under scrutiny once again after a congressional oversight office found they were unlawfully appointed to their positions. The independent nonpartisan agency, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), released a report that determined that Chad Wolf and Ken… Read More
Asylum Seekers Face a Dangerous Journey—and United States Interference
For many people planning to seek asylum in the United States, enforcement starts in Panama, over 3,000 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. immigration agencies collaborate with Panama’s National Border Service, also known as SENAFRONT, to register and track people as they pass through Central America. The United States… Read More
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