Asylum

Lawsuit Now Covers Thousands of Asylum Seekers Unlawfully Turned Back at Ports of Entry

A federal judge has granted class certification in Al Otro Lado v. Wolf, a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s policy of turning back asylum seekers at ports of entry. The ruling provides that the challenge to the Turnback Policy will continue on behalf of all asylum seekers along the U.S.-Mexico border who were or will be prevented from accessing the asylum process at ports of entry as a result of the government’s Turnback Policy.

Comment on <em>Security Bars and Processing</em> Regulation

The American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association submitted a comment opposing the regulation "Security Bars and Processing." 

The regulation would ban asylum and end withholding of removal (an alternative form of relief for an individual fearing persecution in their country of origin) for anyone who passed through a country where there was a COVID-19 outbreak.

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 fee for asylum applicants. The rule […]

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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 one of these hotels this […]

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Statement for the House Committee on Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship Hearing on "Oversight of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services"

The American Immigration Council submitted a written statement to the House Committee on Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship for a July 29, 2020 hearing on "Oversight of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services."

The statement shares the Council's analysis of the true causes of USCIS's $1.2 billion budget shortfall, including fiscal mismanagement, and the implementation of various policies that have hurt the agency's own bottom line.

Letter Demands ICE Release Families Detained During COVID-19 Pandemic

The American Immigration Council joined a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security calling on the release of all families held at all three Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) family detention centers.

COVID-19 is running rampant in these facilities—which detain children as young as one-year-old. In the Karnes County Residential Center, 34 parents and children of approximately 100 detained have tested positive for COVID-19. In the South Texas Family Residential Center, 21 facility staff have tested positive for COVID-19.

Canadian Court Rules US Is No Longer a ‘Safe Third Country’ for Asylum Applicants

A Canadian court has ruled that the United States is no longer a country to which the Canadian government could safely return asylum seekers who crossed the U.S-Canada land border.  This upends more than 15 years of bilateral cooperation between the two countries. On July 22, the Federal Court of Canada ruled that sending asylum […]

Letter Demands Greater Transparency For Cameroonian Immigrants Held in Immigration Detention

The American Immigration Council signed on to a letter calling on Congress to demand greater transparency from Immigration and Customs Enforcement regarding Cameroonian and other Black immigrants held in immigration detention facilities across the country.

This collection of data would allow a deep analysis of the support and care needed to ensure Black Immigrants are justly represented while in immigration detention.

Trump Labels Asylum Seekers as National Security Threat in Expanded Asylum Bar

Even as President Trump downplays the threat of COVID-19, the Trump administration is using the pandemic as a pretext to bar more people from asylum in the United States. While the proposal is being tied to the coronavirus right now, this asylum bar could remain in place long after the current national crisis subsides. Who […]

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