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.
What Are the Proposed New Bars to Asylum?
In yet another move to gut asylum protections in the United States, the Trump administration proposed a rule last month that would add severe new restrictions on asylum access. The restrictions would apply to people convicted of—and in some cases, merely accused of—a wide range of… Read More
Demanding Records About the Migrant Protection Protocols Program
The Migrant Protection Protocols—also known as Remain in Mexico—raises alarming safety and due process questions. However, the government has kept information on how the program is being implemented. Read More
The Government Knew It Didn’t Have the Technology to Track Separated Families. It Did So Anyway.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—the agency responsible for systematically separating thousands of migrant families in the summer of 2018—lacked the technology or mechanisms to record and track the separations, a government watchdog group recently found. Family separations—done under the Trump administration’s “Zero Tolerance policy”—started before the policy was… Read More
Freedom of Information Act Request Regarding Asylum Negotiations Between the U.S. and Guatemala
The American Immigration Council filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of State (DOS) seeking information regarding the signing of an “Asylum Cooperative Agreement” with Guatemala. The requests seek information about the signing of this agreement, as well as the process… Read More
Trump Administration Begins Sending Asylum Seekers to Guatemala
In yet another major blow to America’s asylum system, on Wednesday the Trump administration reportedly began sending some asylum seekers from Honduras and El Salvador to Guatemala rather than permit them to seek protection in the United States. Under the “Asylum Cooperative Agreement”… Read More
Safe Third Country Agreements with Central American Countries Eviscerate America’s Asylum System
The Trump administration published a new rule that seeks to implement safe third country agreements that the United States entered into with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador—and bar many individuals seeking protection in the United States from being able to apply for asylum. Read More
Federal Court Blocks Trump Asylum Ban from Being Applied to Thousands of Asylum Seekers
A federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s asylum ban from being applied to thousands of asylum seekers who were unlawfully prevented from accessing the U.S. asylum process before the ban was implemented. Read More
Statement for the House Committee on Homeland Security “Examining the Human Rights and Legal Implications of DHS’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy.”
The American Immigration Council submitted a written statement to the House Committee on Homeland Security for a November 19, 2019 hearing on the “Examining the Human Rights and Legal Implications of DHS’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy.” Read More
‘I Was Denied Access to the Tent Courts Where Asylum Seekers Are Rushed Through a Sham Process.’
Nearly 60,000 people seeking asylum in the United States have been returned to Mexico to wait for their U.S. court hearings under the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as the Remain in Mexico program. Last week, I traveled to South Texas to observe the effects of the Trump administration… Read More
USCIS Proposes Increased Fees for All Immigration-Related Applications
In a new proposal officially put forward on Thursday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) called for major fee hikes for immigration-related applications. The cost for becoming a citizen would rise above $1,000 for the first time in history. In another first, USCIS proposed a new fee for asylum seekers,… Read More
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