Humanitarian Protection

The United States has long-been a beacon of hope for individuals around the world seeking protection and refuge. Our immigration policies must continue to protect those who need it. Learn more about how America can continue to provide humanitarian protection to those in times of crisis.

Recent Features

An Overview of U.S. Refugee Law and Policy

Before admission to the United States, each refugee must undergo an extensive interviewing, screening, and security clearance process. They go on to contribute to our communities and our economy.

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All Humanitarian Protection Content

  • Fact Sheet

An Overview of U.S. Refugee Law and Policy

Publication Date: 
April 24, 2025
The United States has long been a global leader in the resettlement of refugees—and the need for such leadership remains enormous.
  • Fact Sheet

Expedited Removal Explainer

Publication Date: 
February 20, 2025
Expedited removal is a process by which low-level immigration officers can quickly deport certain noncitizens who are undocumented or have committed fraud or misrepresentation.
  • Fact Sheet

The “Migrant Protection Protocols”: an Explanation of the Remain in Mexico Program

Publication Date: 
February 12, 2025
Under the “Migrant Protection Protocols”, individuals who arrive at the southern border and ask for asylum (either at a port of entry or after crossing the border between ports of entry) are given...
  • Fact Sheet

Humanitarian Protections for Noncitizen Survivors of Domestic Violence and Other Crimes: An Overview

Publication Date: 
February 11, 2025
This fact sheet provides basic information about three of these forms of protection: “U” visas for victims of crime, “T” visas for victims of severe forms of trafficking, and “self-petitions” under...
  • Fact Sheet

Temporary Protected Status: An Overview

Publication Date: 
January 22, 2025
This fact sheet provides an overview of how Temporary Protected Status designations are made, what benefits TPS confers, and how TPS beneficiaries apply for and regularly renew their status.
  • Special Report

Mass Deportation

Publication Date: 
October 2, 2024
The mass deportation of millions of undocumented individuals would be tremendously expensive and would have a catastrophic impact on our economy—one that would be expansive and impact every American...
  • Fact Sheet

An American Immigration Council Analysis of the President’s 212(f) Proclamation and Interim Final Rule Restricting Asylum

Publication Date: 
June 5, 2024
On June 4, the Biden administration issued a presidential proclamation and an Interim Final Rule restricting access to asylum for people crossing into the United States without legal status. The...
  • Fact Sheet

The Biden Administration’s Proposed Regulation On Asylum Bars: An Analysis

Publication Date: 
May 10, 2024
On May 9, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, published here, that would allow asylum officers to reject a subset of asylum seekers earlier in the...
  • Fact Sheet

The Use of Parole Under Immigration Law

Publication Date: 
April 8, 2024
Parole under immigration law is very different than in the criminal justice context. In the immigration context, parole facilitates certain individuals’ entry into and permission to temporarily...
  • Fact Sheet

Asylum in the United States

Publication Date: 
January 15, 2024
Asylum seekers must navigate a difficult and complex process that can involve multiple government agencies. This fact sheet provides an overview of the asylum system in the United States, including...
  • Litigation

Challenging Disappearance under the Alien Enemies Act Without Due Process

The American Immigration Council and the ACLU filed a habeas petition to prevent our petitioner's transfer to CECOT without affording him a meaningful opportunity to appear before a judge to review the government’s allegations against him.
  • FOIA

Council and AILA Submit FOIA Request Seeking Information on Trump Administration Suspension of Green Card Applications

On March 25, 2025, media reports surfaced indicating U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)—the agency in charge of approving...

  • FOIA

The Council and National Immigration Project File FOIA on How USCIS’ Alien Smuggling Determinations Impact Approval of Immigration Benefits

This FOIA request seeks records and data from USCIS about how the agency determines whether a migrant smuggled another person into the United States.
  • FOIA Litigation

Council Litigation Seeks Refugee Processing Data

This Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeks to compel the U.S. Department of State to release data about the demographics, processing, and adjudication of refugees’ applications for...

  • FOIA

Council Lawsuit Challenges USCIS Policies for Withholding Information in Refugee Case Files

This FOIA lawsuit seeks to compel U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) to end policies of unlawfully withholding application assessments, interview notes, and other records from refugees’ case files.
  • FOIA

Council Litigation Seeks Refugee Processing Data

FOIA lawsuit seeks to compel the U.S. Department of State to release data about the demographics, processing, and adjudication of refugees’ applications for admission into the United States through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
  • FOIA

Torrance County Detention Facility’s Troubling Role in Detaining Haitian Migrants During the 2021 Del Rio Incident

 

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  • FOIA

The Council Sues the Department of State for Data on Where the Agency Resettles Refugees

On April 25, the Council filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) with the Department of State to obtain locational and demographic data on refugees admitted to the United States.
  • Comments

Council and AILA submit Comments on Interim Final Rule Restricting Access to Humanitarian Protections at the U.S./Mexico Border

July 17, 2024
In June of 2024, the American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) submitted a joint comment urging the Biden administration to rescind this IFR.
  • Comments

Council Comment Supporting the Temporary Increase of the Automatic Extension Period for Certain Renewed Employment Authorization Documents

July 1, 2024
The American Immigration Council submitted a comment in response to a temporary final rule on the Temporary Increase of the Automatic Extension Period of Employment Authorization and Documentation for Certain Employment Authorization Document (“EAD”) Renewal Applicants.
  • Practice Advisories

Strategies and Considerations in the Wake of Niz-Chavez v. Garland

Publication Date: 
July 29, 2024
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.
  • Practice Advisories

Practice Alert: Padilla v. ICE and Delays in Credible Fear Interviews

Publication Date: 
March 22, 2024
The practice alert explains the scope of a class settlement agreement in Padilla v. ICE that provides protections for detained asylum seekers who face prolonged delays before receiving their credible fear interviews.
  • Practice Advisories

Delay Actions In The Asylum Context: Avoiding Dismissal And Proving The Case

Publication Date: 
November 24, 2022
This Practice Advisory provides information for filing a delay action in federal district court under the Mandamus Act and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) for an asylum applicant who is awaiting an interview or a final decision on their affirmative asylum claim. It discusses the required elements of a successful APA and mandamus actions and jurisdictional hurdles. The advisory also addresses asylum-specific case law and arguments, including USCIS’s use of the “Last-In, First-Out” processing and statistics showing the growing asylum backlog.
  • Practice Advisories

Screening Potential DACA Requestors for Other Forms of Relief

Publication Date: 
September 5, 2017
This Practice Advisory is designed to assist attorneys in determining whether individuals seeking Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals might be eligible for immigration benefits.
  • Practice Advisories

Preserving the One-Year Filing Deadline for Asylum Cases Stuck in the Immigration Court Backlog

Publication Date: 
December 1, 2015
The immigration courts’ unprecedented backlogs are creating procedural and substantive challenges for attorneys trying to comply with the One-Year Filing Deadline (OYFD) in asylum cases. This Practice Advisory discusses strategies and procedures for complying with the OYFD.
  • Practice Advisories

Employment Authorization and Asylum: Strategies to Avoid Stopping the Asylum Clock

Publication Date: 
February 5, 2014
The American Immigration Council’s Practice Advisory, Employment Authorization and Asylum: Strategies to Avoid Stopping the Asylum Clock, has been updated to reflect extensive changes to the manner in which the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) determine an asylum applicant’s eligibility for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD).
  • Practice Advisories

Return to the United States After Prevailing on a Petition for Review or Motion to Reopen

Publication Date: 
December 21, 2012
This Practice Advisory contains practical and legal suggestions for individuals seeking to return to the United States after they have prevailed on a petition for review or an administrative motion to reopen or reconsider to the immigration court or Board of Immigration Appeals.
  • Blog

Trump Administration Abruptly Stopped Processing Green Card Applications Filed by Asylees, Refugees. A FOIA Request Seeks Answers

April 23, 2025

By Raul Pinto and Jennifer Coberly On March 25, news reports surfaced that the Trump administration imposed a suspension in the processing of certain green card applications. The news reports...

  • Blog

The Government Is Mass-Emailing People Telling Them To ‘Leave the United States’ Within 7 Days. It’s A Mess, And It Might Be DOGE’s Fault.

April 17, 2025

Over the weekend, I got a WhatsApp message from Mr. A. Mr. A and I have been in touch since he was trying to get out of Afghanistan after American troops withdrew in 2021. After finally escaping...

  • Blog

Trump Administration Terminates CHNV Program, Impacting More Than a Half-Million Immigrants

April 8, 2025

On March 25, the Department of Homeland Security announced in the Federal Register that it was revoking humanitarian parole for hundreds of thousands of immigrants living in the U.S. legally under...

  • Blog

What We Know About Trump’s Efforts to Roll Back TPS For Venezuelans and CHNV Parole

February 18, 2025

From his first day in office, President Trump made clear that part of his immigration agenda was to strip legal protections from people who currently qualify for them, rendering them deportable as...

  • Blog

Trump’s Day 1 Orders Use Fearmongering to Expand His Immigration Authority

January 23, 2025

On January 20, 2025, the day President Trump took office for his second term, he issued a series of immigration-related executive orders and proclamations that will quickly re-shape the U.S....

  • Blog

Biden Keeps Nearly 1 Million People From Losing Legal Status Under Trump – Until Fall 2026

January 15, 2025

As one of the Biden administration’s final acts on immigration, the Department of Homeland Security has announced that it is extending four grants of Temporary Protected Status – covering nearly 1...

  • Blog

Judge Strikes Down ‘Keeping Families Together’ Parole Process

November 13, 2024

After initially blocking the Biden administration’s recent move to promote family unity for some U.S. citizens with undocumented spouses in August, a federal judge in Texas issued a final judgment...

  • Blog

Biden Should Use His Authority to Protect Vulnerable Immigrants Before He Leaves Office

November 13, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump vowed to deport millions of immigrants in his successful bid for a second term at the White House. This week, we gained a clearer picture about how he aims to fulfill...

  • Blog

Federal Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Asylum Seekers’ Rights to Present at POEs

November 4, 2024

Ports of entry along our borders are supposed to be where people in need of protection can come to seek humanitarian relief. But since 2016, every presidential administration has used different...

  • Blog

What Is the ‘Bipartisan Border Bill’ and How Would It Change the US Immigration System?

November 1, 2024

The “bipartisan border bill” has been front and center in the presidential election, but it is often presented to the public without clarity on what the bill would actually do. In May, U.S....

  • Press Release

NEW REPORT: Gaps in Detention Data from Torrance Detention Facility Show Racial Disparities

October 24, 2024
In a New Mexico detention center, ICE categorized People with African, Asian, and South American backgrounds as racially ‘white’
  • Press Release

Ninth Circuit Upholds Rights of Asylum Seekers, Rules “Metering” Unlawful

October 23, 2024
In a decision issued on Oct. 23, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals largely affirmed a lower court decision that found the U.S. government's systemic practice of turning back asylum seekers ("metering") at the U.S.-Mexico border is unlawful.
  • Press Release

DACA Recipients Need Permanent Protection from Congress

October 10, 2024
So long as Congress fails to step up and provide a permanent solution, DACA recipients will continue living in constant fear and uncertainty, the Council said today.
  • Press Release

Court Allows Legal Challenge to CBP One Turnback Policy to Proceed

October 1, 2024
A case that challenges that U.S. government's policy of turning away asylum seekers who legally approach ports of entry can move forward, a judge ruled.
  • Press Release

Extended Harsh Asylum Restrictions Won’t Fix Our Broken Immigration System

October 1, 2024
We need a balanced approach to addressing challenges at our southern border and our overwhelmed, broken asylum system.
  • Press Release

Biden's Executive Action Will Not Make Border More Orderly or Secure

June 5, 2024
The U.S. government needs to be able to quickly and fairly sort out migrants who have a valid asylum claim, but instead of investing in U.S. ports of entry, immigration courts, or more options for legal migration, the order focuses on harsh and arbitrary turnbacks.
  • Press Release

Civil Rights Groups File Lawsuit to Block Iowa's Unconstitutional SF 2340

May 9, 2024
Civil rights groups filed a federal lawsuit today to block SF 2340, one of the worst, most far-reaching immigration laws ever passed in the state of Iowa.
  • Press Release

Senate Border Bill a Step in Right Direction, but Falls Short in Guaranteeing Due Process for Asylum Seekers

February 5, 2024
On Sunday night, a bipartisan group of senators released the “Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024." Jeremy Robbins, Executive Director of the American Immigration Council, responds to this controversial legislation that faces an uncertain future.
  • Press Release

Inhumane Immigration Practices Require Transformative Solutions Now

November 27, 2023

Inhumane practices. Open-air detention sites. Family separations.

  • Press Release

More than 100 Business Organizations Sign Onto Council Letter Urging Congress to Reduce the Waiting Period for Asylum Seekers to Obtain Work Permits

November 16, 2023
The American Immigration Council and over 100 business organizations, including chambers of commerce and trade associations, want Congress to remove the present obstacle to asylum applicants acquiring work permits swiftly.
  • Litigation

Challenging Disappearance under the Alien Enemies Act Without Due Process

The American Immigration Council and the ACLU filed a habeas petition to prevent our petitioner's transfer to CECOT without affording him a meaningful opportunity to appear before a judge to review the government’s allegations against him.
  • Fact Sheet

An Overview of U.S. Refugee Law and Policy

Publication Date: 
April 24, 2025
The United States has long been a global leader in the resettlement of refugees—and the need for such leadership remains enormous.
  • Blog

Trump Administration Abruptly Stopped Processing Green Card Applications Filed by Asylees, Refugees. A FOIA Request Seeks Answers

April 23, 2025

By Raul Pinto and Jennifer Coberly On March 25, news reports surfaced that the Trump administration imposed a suspension in the processing of certain green card applications. The news reports...

  • Blog

The Government Is Mass-Emailing People Telling Them To ‘Leave the United States’ Within 7 Days. It’s A Mess, And It Might Be DOGE’s Fault.

April 17, 2025

Over the weekend, I got a WhatsApp message from Mr. A. Mr. A and I have been in touch since he was trying to get out of Afghanistan after American troops withdrew in 2021. After finally escaping...

  • FOIA

Council and AILA Submit FOIA Request Seeking Information on Trump Administration Suspension of Green Card Applications

On March 25, 2025, media reports surfaced indicating U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)—the agency in charge of approving...

  • Blog

Trump Administration Terminates CHNV Program, Impacting More Than a Half-Million Immigrants

April 8, 2025

On March 25, the Department of Homeland Security announced in the Federal Register that it was revoking humanitarian parole for hundreds of thousands of immigrants living in the U.S. legally under...

  • FOIA

The Council and National Immigration Project File FOIA on How USCIS’ Alien Smuggling Determinations Impact Approval of Immigration Benefits

This FOIA request seeks records and data from USCIS about how the agency determines whether a migrant smuggled another person into the United States.
  • Fact Sheet

Expedited Removal Explainer

Publication Date: 
February 20, 2025
Expedited removal is a process by which low-level immigration officers can quickly deport certain noncitizens who are undocumented or have committed fraud or misrepresentation.
  • Blog

What We Know About Trump’s Efforts to Roll Back TPS For Venezuelans and CHNV Parole

February 18, 2025

From his first day in office, President Trump made clear that part of his immigration agenda was to strip legal protections from people who currently qualify for them, rendering them deportable as...

  • Fact Sheet

The “Migrant Protection Protocols”: an Explanation of the Remain in Mexico Program

Publication Date: 
February 12, 2025
Under the “Migrant Protection Protocols”, individuals who arrive at the southern border and ask for asylum (either at a port of entry or after crossing the border between ports of entry) are given...

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