Asylum
Asylum grants legal protection to foreign nationals already in the U.S. or arriving at the border who can’t go back to their home country because of persecution. Learn more about the asylum system in the United States, including how asylum is defined, eligibility requirements, and the difficult and complex application process.
Advocates Submit Brief to Stop the Revival of Migrant Protection Protocols
The Council and partner immigration groups and former immigration judges filed an amicus brief to stop the reinstatement of the Migrant Protection Protocols. Read More
Council and Partners Submit Amicus Brief to Stop the Reinstatement of the Migrant Protection Protocols
This brief highlights the court's many factual errors about MPP in its decision to reinstate the program. Read More
Council Calls on Biden Administration to Block the Return of MPP
The Council led more than 100 other organizations in a letter urging the Biden administration to do everything in its power to prevent the return of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), which was reinstated by a federal judge in Texas on August 13, up to and including an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court. Read More
Council Joins Coalition Letter Expressing Concern Over ICE Family Custody Programs
The Council joined over 120 organizations in a letter to DHS and ICE calling on the Biden administration to move away from using contractors to hold families in ICE custody, and asks the administration to replace the current custody programs with community-based post-release Border Reception and Welcome Centers. Read More
Coalition Letter Urges Immediate End to Title 42 Expulsions and Other Deterrence Strategies Against Asylum Seekers
The American Immigration Council joined a coalition of 105 organizations in expressing alarm over reports that the Biden administration may continue the harmful and unnecessary Title 42 expulsion policy for an additional two months. The letter also urged an end to other punitive measures against asylum seekers, including electronic ankle… Read More
Strategies and Considerations in the Wake of Niz-Chavez v. Garland
This practice advisory by the Council and partners provides an overview of the Niz-Chavez v. Garland decision and its impact on eligibility for cancellation of removal; eligibility for post-conclusion voluntary departure and broader applications of the decision. Read More
Scientific Evidence Shows Assumptions About Asylum Seekers’ Memory Are Wrong
How well should someone be able to remember every detail of a traumatic event? The U.S. government argues people should have a near perfect memory to obtain asylum—even if they experienced the trauma years in the past. Due to unprecedented backlogs in immigration court and the Asylum office,… Read More
Biden Will Admit Asylum Seekers Ordered Deported Under Trump’s Migrant Protection Protocols
Asylum seekers who were ordered deported for missing their U.S. court hearings under the Trump administration’s so-called Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP)—informally known as the “Remain in Mexico” program—will be allowed to restart their proceedings in the United States. Thousands of others whose cases were terminated because of procedural… Read More
Attorney General Rescinds Two Trump Decisions, Restoring Protection to Many Asylum Seekers
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on June 16 that he is restoring a vital lifeline to survivors of gender-based violence, gang violence, and violence on account of family relationships. Garland issued two decisions overruling Trump-era Attorneys General Jeff Sessions and William Barr’s rulings disqualify many such individuals from asylum in… Read More
Letter Urging Attorney General Merrick Garland to Vacate Matter of A-B, Matter of L-E-A, and Matter of A-C-A-A
The Council joined 356 other organizations, law school clinics, professors, law firms, and practitioners in urging Attorney General Merrick Garland to vacate Matter of A-B, Matter of L-E-A, and Matter of A-C-A-A. These Trump-administrative decisions limit the circumstances under which an asylum seeker can win protection due to persecution on… Read More
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