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 Free Zones in the U.S. Examined by Inter-American Commission
Entire jurisdictions in the United States have become so hostile to asylum seekers and their representatives that the U.S. government, and its immigration court system, is failing to deliver on its international and national obligation to protect them. The asylum-seekers who end up in one of these hostile jurisdictions, which… Read More
Developments with Respect to the One-Year Deadline for Filing Asylum Applications
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP), Dobrin & Han, PC, American Immigration Council, and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild commend the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) for reversing course and now allowing asylum applicants to file their applications by mail or in person at an immigration court window. Read More
Why the Department of Homeland Security Should Also End Private Prison Contracts
For two years, women and children from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala have been fleeing to the United States to escape the extreme violence of gangs which control large swaths of territory within their home countries. And for two years the Obama Administration has responded to this humanitarian crisis… Read More
Government’s Treatment of Asylum Seekers Falling Short
Human Rights First (HRF) and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) each released reports this month detailing the flawed treatment of asylum seekers in the United States. The USCIRF report, Barriers to Protection: The Treatment of Asylum Seekers in Expedited Removal, looks at the Department of Homeland… Read More
Asylum Seekers File Class Action Lawsuit Against DHS
The U.S. Government has placed unnecessary hurdles in front of asylum seekers who are attempting to file asylum applications within the required time period. Read More
Eight of Twelve Families Targeted by ICE Have Been Released
Washington D.C. – After being held in detention for more than a month by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), eight of the families rounded up by ICE at the beginning of January have finally been released from detention while their cases proceed. The CARA… Read More
CARA: 33 Mothers and Children Protected from Immediate Deportation
Washington D.C. – In the last week, 121 mothers and children were brought to the South Texas Residential Family Center in Dilley, Texas, after being rounded up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The CARA Family Detention Pro Bono Project reviewed the cases of 13 families, filed appeals for 12, and… Read More
After Successfully Delaying the Deportations, Groups Demand Meeting with DHS Sec. Johnson
Washington, D.C. – Today, the American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson criticizing DHS for conducting raids to arrest and remove asylum-seeking Central American families, and calling for a meeting to discuss how to guarantee due… Read More
Judge Stands Up for Refugee Families, Castigates Government for Policies That Traumatize Children
Washington, DC – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the American Immigration Council (Council) welcomed a ruling by U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee that should signal the end of the mass incarceration of children and mothers seeking asylum in the U.S. “After months of negotiations between the plaintiffs and the… Read More
DHS and Immigration Courts Sued Over One-Year Asylum Deadline
Immigration law imposes a one-year deadline, beginning upon arrival in the United States, within which an asylum seeker must apply for asylum. With very limited exceptions, an individual who misses this deadline becomes ineligible for asylum. Even though the clock is ticking for these asylum seekers, DHS agents and officers… Read More
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