Asylum

Judge Voids USCIS Asylum Policies Because Ken Cuccinelli Wasn’t Appointed Legally

The Trump administration suffered another blow on Sunday, when a federal judge in Washington D.C. ruled that Ken Cuccinelli was unlawfully appointed to the role of acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The ruling voids two asylum policies Cuccinelli had signed off on. But challenges to his authority will likely increase going […]

Ruling on Migrant Protection Protocols Is a Step Forward in Restoring the Rule of Law at the Border

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the “Remain in Mexico” program. Nearly 60,000 people seeking asylum in the United States have been returned to Mexico to wait for their U.S. court hearings under MPP.

Federal Court Finds Conditions in Customs and Border Protection Detention Facilities Unconstitutional

A federal court ordered U.S. Customs and Border Protection to overhaul the way the agency detains people in its custody in the Tucson Sector. The court found that the conditions in CBP holding cells, especially those that preclude sleep over several nights, are presumptively punitive and violate the U.S. Constitution.

Conditions in Border Facilities Deny Asylum Seekers Meaningful Screening Interviews

In U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody, asylum seekers are detained in horribly cold and overcrowded facilities, unable to sleep, without access to food, water, or adequate medical care, and without access to an attorney. Under two new government processes—the Prompt Asylum Claim Review (PACR) and the Humanitarian Asylum Review Process (HARP)—people seeking asylum […]

A Humanitarian Catastrophe at the Border: One Year of the ‘Migrant Protection Protocols’

One year ago today, a confused Honduran man seeking asylum in the United States became the first person to be turned away from the border and sent back to Mexico to await a U.S. court hearing. He would become the first of nearly 60,000 people subjected to the so-called “Migrant Protection Protocols” (MPP). Under MPP—also […]

Comments on Proposed Restrictions to Asylum Procedures and Bars to Eligibility

The Trump administration has proposed amending regulations that affect asylum eligibility. If implemented, the regulations would shut America’s doors to many of those most in need of protection. The Council opposes the proposed new rules, which include sweeping new criminal bars and changes in the treatment of vacated convictions and sentences.

Tent Immigration Courts Are Still Not Fully Open to the Public

Asylum seekers subject to the Migrant Protection Protocols—or the “Remain in Mexico” program—in Laredo and Brownsville, Texas attend their court hearings in tents known as “port courts.” The government announced these secretive courts would finally be opened last week, but the public still does not have full access. For the past year, this program has […]

Changes to Work Permit Eligibility Leave Asylum Seekers Without a Job

People who come to the United States in search of protection must be allowed to work during the often-lengthy asylum application process. They need to be able to support themselves and their families. Yet the Trump administration wants to make it harder for asylum seekers to get a work permit. The Department of Homeland Security […]

The post Changes to Work Permit Eligibility Leave Asylum Seekers Without a Job appeared first on Immigration Impact.

What Are the Proposed New Bars to Asylum?

In yet another move to gut asylum protections in the United States, the Trump administration proposed a rule last month that would add severe new restrictions on asylum access. The restrictions would apply to people convicted of—and in some cases, merely accused of—a wide range of criminal offenses. If enacted, the rule would create seven […]

The post What Are the Proposed New Bars to Asylum? appeared first on Immigration Impact.