Asylum

Lawsuit Challenging Delays in Asylum Screening Interviews and Bond Hearings Continues

A federal court in Seattle on Tuesday permitted a case challenging unlawful delays in asylum screening interviews and bond hearings for asylum seekers to move forward over the government’s objection. The plaintiffs in the case are four immigrants who came to the United States to seek asylum. After they arrived, immigration officials kept them in […]

The United States Could Solve Undocumented Immigration With a Better System

New estimates indicate that the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States continues a decade-long decline, standing at about 10.7 million as of 2016 (down from 12.2 million in 2007). Just as important as the numbers themselves, however, are the trends that underlie them: migrants are now primarily coming from Central America, not Mexico. […]

What Matthew Whitaker’s Designation as Acting Attorney General Means for Immigration

Following Jeff Sessions’ resignation as Attorney General, President Trump named Matthew Whitaker to replace him—a move that has already inspired multiple lawsuits that contend the designation was illegal. In a recent immigration case, an amicus brief explains why designating Sessions’ former chief of staff is unlawful. The amicus brief was filed in Matter of Negusie, […]

Acting AG Matthew G. Whitaker Lacks Authority to Decide Immigration Case, Say Immigration Groups

The American Immigration Council and other immigrant rights organizations filed a legal brief on Friday that explains why President Donald Trump’s designation of Matthew G. Whitaker as acting attorney general is unlawful. As a result, the brief asserts, Whitaker lacks the authority to decide a critical immigration case.

<em>Matter of Negusie</em>

In Matter of Negusie, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions referred to himself the question of whether coercion and duress are relevant to the application of the immigration statute’s persecutor bar for individuals seeking asylum or withholding of removal

The Government Failed to Conduct Background Checks on Staffers at Migrant Child Tent City

Thousands of migrant children are currently being held at a tent city in Tornillo, Texas along the U.S.-Mexico border. Most of the children traveled alone in order to flee from violence in their Central American home countries and to reunite with family members already in the United States. An investigation released this week by the […]

Autopsy Report Shows Transgender Immigrant Woman Beaten Before Death in ICE Custody

Roxsana Hernández Rodriguez, a 33-year-old transgender woman from Honduras, died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in May, weeks after presenting herself at the San Ysidro port of entry to ask for asylum. An independent autopsy report released this week revealed evidence that Hernández was physically beaten while in ICE custody prior to […]

Violence Erupts at the Border as US Continues to Deny Rights to Asylum Seekers

The situation in Tijuana, Mexico reached a boiling point on Sunday, after U.S. authorities fired tear gas at hundreds of migrants—including pregnant women and children—who had peacefully gathered earlier that morning to ask for asylum. Disturbing video footage, pictures, and stories have emerged depicting the mayhem, which came to a head after some migrants in […]

Judge Blocks President Trump’s New Asylum Ban

Ruling in a lawsuit late Monday night, a federal judge in San Francisco put the Trump administration’s asylum ban—an unprecedented move that barred asylum to any individual crossing the Southern border between ports of entry—on hold. Citing the Immigration and Nationality Act, which provides that any person may apply for asylum “whether or not” they […]

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