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.
US Government May Be Illegally Transporting Would-Be Asylum Seekers Back to Danger
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. government and a United Nations agency. The “Assisted Voluntary Return” (AVR) program… Read More
Trump Administration Slashes Protections for Immigrant Children in Government Custody
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 a decades-old agreement created to ensure that immigrant children are held in safe and sanitary conditions while in government custody. Flores also… Read More
Trump’s Latest Asylum Ban Goes Into Effect in Texas and New Mexico
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 amounts to a partial victory for President Trump. While the ban covers the border states outside of the Ninth… Read More
Opposing the “Asylum Ban 2.0” Interim Final Rule
The American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association submitted a comment explaining how the interim final rule on Asylum Eligibility and Procedural Modification strips fundamental protections from vulnerable individuals fleeing persecution and would return bona fide asylum seekers to harm. This new rule would… Read More
Rushing Immigration Court Cases Through ‘Rocket Dockets’ Deprives Families of Due Process
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 States together without authorization. The program is intended to discourage Central American families from coming to the United States by quickly… Read More
Attorney General Barr Rolls Back Asylum Protections for Families
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 immigration court decision that says people should generally not be granted asylum if they face persecution because of… Read More
Federal Court Rules that Challenge to Trump’s Asylum Turnback Policy Will Move Forward
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. Read More
Why a Safe Third Country Agreement with Guatemala is Unsafe and Unworkable
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. Framed by the president as a “Safe Third Country” agreement, this move will place thousands of asylum seekers at risk in a country ill-prepared to process a high volume of applications for protection and with safety problems of its own. Read More
California Judge Blocks Implementation of Trump’s New Asylum Rule
A federal judge in California blocked the implementation of a new rule yesterday that would have prevented most immigrants who arrive at the U.S. southern land border from qualifying for asylum in the United States. This decision came just hours after a D.C. court ruled in the opposite direction. The… Read More
Federal Appeals Court Rejects Trump Administration’s Efforts to Deny Bond Hearings to Asylum Seekers
A federal appeals court ruled that asylum seekers must continue to receive bond hearings while the court considers the Trump administration’s appeal to deny bond hearings with procedural protections to asylum seekers. Read More
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