Asylum

Recent Features

FACT SHEET
Expedited Removal Explainer

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. 

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FACT SHEET
Asylum in the United States

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 how asylum is defined, eligibility requirements, and the application process.

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All Asylum Content

  • Blog

America Is Building Detention Camps for Immigrant Families in 2018

June 25, 2018

After an unprecedented public outcry last week, President Trump signed an executive order signaling an end to the government’s horrific practice of separating immigrant children from their parents...

  • Blog

Business Leaders Rebuke the Government’s Family Separation and Imprisonment Policies

June 22, 2018

Criticism continues to mount for the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy and practice of separating and imprisoning migrant families along the U.S.-Mexico border. While the administration...

  • Blog

Here Is the Latest on President Trump’s Family Separation Policy

June 21, 2018

President Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday in response to public outcry about family separation – a horrific policy that has led to the forced separation of over 2,000 minor children...

  • Blog

On World Refugee Day, a Look at the Trump Administration’s Ugly Track Record on Refugees

June 20, 2018

Across the globe, people gather together to celebrate World Refugee Day on June 20. Started in 2001, this day not only commends the courage and determination of the currently 25.4 million...

  • Blog

The Trump Administration Is Choosing to Separate Children From Their Parents Every Day

June 19, 2018

Every day under the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is choosing to separate children from their parents. Despite claims by the...

  • Blog

Trump’s Signature Family Separation Policy and Migrant Kid Jails Meet Outrage

June 18, 2018

The outcry against family separation has only just begun. The Trump administration’s cruel policy of separating migrant children from their parents when they cross the U.S.-Mexico border is...

  • Blog

Asylum Seekers Fleeing Domestic Violence and Gangs Now Face Even Higher Hurdles to Protection

June 13, 2018

In the latest attack on asylum seekers, Attorney General Jeff Sessions single-handedly overturned years of immigration precedent to find that many victims of violence will not qualify for asylum....

  • Blog

Sessions Rolls Back Asylum Protections for Domestic and Gang Violence Victims

June 11, 2018

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Monday his decision to overturn earlier court precedent effectively rolling back protections for asylum-seeking men, women, and children fleeing...

  • Blog

Asylum Seeker Files Lawsuit After CBP Officers Falsify Paperwork and Then Deport Him

June 7, 2018

Time and time again, immigrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border are never given a meaningful opportunity by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers to explain why they fear...

  • Blog

Immigrants Are Dying in ICE Custody, So We’re Demanding an Investigation

June 4, 2018

The government has a longstanding history of failing to provide adequate medical and mental health care to immigrants detained in the Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, CO. This...

  • Press Release

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

August 6, 2020
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.
  • Advocacy

Comment on Security Bars and Processing Regulation

August 5, 2020

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

...

  • Blog

USCIS Fee Hikes Will Go Into Effect for These Applications

July 31, 2020

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...

  • Blog

Government Secretly Held Asylum-Seeking Children in Hotels

July 29, 2020

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...

  • Advocacy

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

July 29, 2020

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....

  • Blog

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

July 23, 2020

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...

  • Advocacy

Letter Demands Greater Transparency For Cameroonian Immigrants Held in Immigration Detention

July 21, 2020

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...

  • Advocacy

Letter Demands ICE Release Families Detained During COVID-19 Pandemic

July 17, 2020

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...

  • Advocacy

Comments Opposing Proposed Rule That Would Impose Bars to Asylum and Rewrite Asylum Law

July 15, 2020
The American Immigration Council submitted these comments opposing bars to asylum proposed by the Trump administration.
  • Blog

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

July 9, 2020

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...

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