Humanitarian Protection

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An Overview of U.S. Refugee Law and Policy

Before admission to the United States, each refugee must undergo an extensive interviewing, screening, and security clearance process. They go on to contribute to our communities and our economy.

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All Humanitarian Protection Content

  • Blog

U.S. Immigration Officials Frequently Use Coercive Tactics to Deport Mexican Migrants

September 20, 2017

U.S. immigration officials have a long history of overstepping the boundaries of their legal authority and violating the constitutional and other legal rights of migrants at the Southwest border....

  • Blog

Supreme Court Restores a Portion of Trump’s Travel Ban, In Continuous Chess Match

September 11, 2017

In a unanimous decision, the Ninth Circuit upheld a lower court’s decision on Friday in Hawaii v. Trump, allowing extended family members as well as certain refugees to enter the United States. In...

  • Blog

The DACA Affair: The Epitome of Injustice

September 6, 2017

On January 13, 1898, the novelist Émile Zola penned a now famous open letter in the French newspaper L’Aurore, accusing the French government of anti-Semitism for falsely convicting military...

  • Blog

Court Decision Ensures Many TPS Holders in Ninth Circuit May Become Permanent Residents

August 28, 2017

Hundreds, if not thousands, of noncitizens with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) now are eligible to apply for lawful permanent residence because of a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision. In...

  • Blog

More Immigrants are Dying in Detention, and the Government Wants More Facilities

August 24, 2017

The Administration’s efforts to massively expand immigration detention in the United States are already evident in Texas, where a for-profit prison company is building the largest complex in the...

  • Blog

Settlement Reached With Government Over Access to Mental Health Evaluations in Family Detention Centers

August 21, 2017

Nothing is a better predictor of an immigrant’s success in their immigration case, than whether or not they have access to competent legal assistance. However, the U.S. Government has at times...

  • Blog

Three-Year-Old Immigrant Child Released After Two Years of Detention

August 9, 2017

An immigration judge ordered the immediate release of a three-year-old immigrant child and his mother from a detention center in rural Pennsylvania on Monday, stating that it was one of the most...

  • Blog

How Many People Are at Risk of Losing Their Temporary Protected Status?

July 26, 2017

Over 300,000 individuals who currently have legal status could lose it if their Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is terminated over the course of the next year. Nationals of ten countries who have...

  • Blog

Hawaii Judge Rules That Grandparents and Other Close Relatives Are Excluded from the Travel Ban

July 17, 2017

This story was updated on July 19, 2017. U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson ruled last week that “grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and...

  • Blog

Groups Sue U.S. Government for Turning Away Asylum Seekers

July 12, 2017

Men, women, and children fleeing persecution, grave violence, and even death arrive daily at Ports of Entry (POE) all along the U.S.-Mexico border and present themselves to U.S. Customs and Border...

  • Blog

US Government May Be Illegally Transporting Would-Be Asylum Seekers Back to Danger

August 26, 2019

Over 2,000 people from Central American who were seeking to live in the United States have reportedly given up and accepted a “free ride” home under a new, controversial program funded by the U.S...

  • Blog

Trump Administration Slashes Protections for Immigrant Children in Government Custody

August 22, 2019

The Trump administration announced a new regulation on Wednesday allowing for the indefinite detention of immigrant children. The new regulation will end the Flores Settlement Agreement. Flores is...

  • Blog

Trump’s Latest Asylum Ban Goes Into Effect in Texas and New Mexico

August 20, 2019

The Trump administration’s latest asylum ban went into effect in New Mexico and Texas—but not California and Arizona—on Friday after a ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The ruling...

  • Advocacy

Opposing the “Asylum Ban 2.0” Interim Final Rule

August 16, 2019

The American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association submitted a comment explaining how the interim final rule on Asylum...

  • Blog

USCIS Announces 7 International Offices Will Remain Open Despite Overall Shutdown

August 15, 2019

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently released more details about its plan to close its international offices. In an August 9 memorandum, USCIS clarified that all but seven of...

  • Blog

Rushing Immigration Court Cases Through ‘Rocket Dockets’ Deprives Families of Due Process

August 9, 2019

In an attempt to rush through immigrant families’ court cases, the government began implementing “rocket dockets” in September 2018 for parents and children who had recently entered the United...

  • Blog

Syria Is Not Redesignated for TPS, Despite Ongoing Armed Conflict 

August 2, 2019

After months of uncertainty, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Thursday that it will extend—but not redesignate—Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Syria. This life-saving...

  • Blog

Attorney General Barr Rolls Back Asylum Protections for Families

July 31, 2019

Attorney General William Barr issued a decision that significantly restricts the ability of many current asylum seekers to win their cases on Monday. In Matter of L-E-A-, Barr issued a new...

  • Press Release

Federal Court Rules that Challenge to Trump’s Asylum Turnback Policy Will Move Forward

July 30, 2019
A federal district court has rejected the government’s second attempt to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's unlawful turnbacks of asylum seekers who present themselves at ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border – including its attempt to choke off asylum applications through a so-called “metering” process.
  • Blog

Why a Safe Third Country Agreement with Guatemala is Unsafe and Unworkable

July 29, 2019

The Trump administration signed an agreement with Guatemala last Friday that appears to allow the U.S. government to send certain asylum applicants to Guatemala, forcing them to seek asylum there...

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