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.
Court Says Turnbacks of Tens of Thousands of Asylum Seekers Are Unlawful
A federal judge declared unlawful the U.S. government’s turnbacks of asylum seekers arriving at ports of entry along the U.S southern border. The court ruled that the United States is required by law to inspect and process asylum seekers when they present themselves at ports of entry, and condemned the practice of denying access to the asylum process through metering and similar practices. Read More
Immigrant Rights Advocates Urge Court to Permanently End Trump-Era Policy that Turned Back Tens of Thousands of Asylum Seekers
Immigrant rights advocates released a statement after presenting oral arguments before U.S. District Court of the Southern District of California, where they urged the court to declare unlawful and permanently end the Trump-era turnback policy. Read More
Supreme Court Refuses to Stop the Migrant Protection Protocols From Going Back Into Effect
The Supreme Court refused to block an order to reinstate the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy. The decision comes after a Texas judge halted the government’s recission of the controversial and illegal program. The Supreme Court’s ruling means that the government must make “best… Read More
The U.S. Supreme Court Decides to Send Asylum Seekers to Danger
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to stay a ruling from a lower Texas court that would force the Biden administration to revive the Migrant Protection Protocols. Read More
Advocates Urge Supreme Court to Stop Revival of Migrant Protection Protocols
Immigration groups and judges urged the U.S. Supreme Court in an amicus brief to stay a Texas court ruling that would force the Biden administration to revive the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) – an illegal policy that forced asylum seekers to await their U.S. court dates in perilous conditions in Mexico. Read More
Biden Administration Plans Big Changes for Asylum Seekers at the Border
The Biden administration announced this week that it will propose a new rule to speed up the fair and humane processing of asylum claims of people arriving at the U.S. border. The issue has been the recent subject of fierce public and political debate. Tellingly, this is the new administration’s… Read More
Advocates Submit Brief to Stop the Revival of Migrant Protection Protocols
The Council and partner immigration groups and former immigration judges filed an amicus brief to stop the reinstatement of the Migrant Protection Protocols. Read More
Scientific Evidence Shows Assumptions About Asylum Seekers’ Memory Are Wrong
How well should someone be able to remember every detail of a traumatic event? The U.S. government argues people should have a near perfect memory to obtain asylum—even if they experienced the trauma years in the past. Due to unprecedented backlogs in immigration court and the Asylum office,… Read More
Biden Will Admit Asylum Seekers Ordered Deported Under Trump’s Migrant Protection Protocols
Asylum seekers who were ordered deported for missing their U.S. court hearings under the Trump administration’s so-called Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP)—informally known as the “Remain in Mexico” program—will be allowed to restart their proceedings in the United States. Thousands of others whose cases were terminated because of procedural… Read More
Attorney General Rescinds Two Trump Decisions, Restoring Protection to Many Asylum Seekers
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on June 16 that he is restoring a vital lifeline to survivors of gender-based violence, gang violence, and violence on account of family relationships. Garland issued two decisions overruling Trump-era Attorneys General Jeff Sessions and William Barr’s rulings disqualify many such individuals from asylum in… Read More
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