Refugees and Asylum Seekers
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
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
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
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
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
Legal Victory Brings Hope to Asylum Seekers Turned Away at the Border
Asylum seekers got a major win in a lawsuit challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) illegal policy of turning back asylum seekers at ports of entry. In Al Otro Lado v. Wolf, a federal judge decided that the case may proceed as a class action. This decision means… Read More
USCIS Fee Hikes Will Go Into Effect for These Applications
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released an advance copy of a final rule on July 31 that will impose significant fee increases across many facets of the legal immigration system. These changes include an astronomical 80% increase to the cost of becoming a U.S. citizen and a first-time… Read More
Government Secretly Held Asylum-Seeking Children in Hotels
The Trump administration has been detaining immigrant children in hotels along the Texas-Mexico border and in Arizona. Some of the children are just a year old and are held in the hotels for weeks before being expelled from the United States. A group of immigrant children who were held in… Read More
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