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. 

READ MORE

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.

READ MORE

All Asylum Content

  • Blog

Court Ensures That Asylum Seekers Will Receive a Fair Opportunity to Apply for Asylum

April 2, 2018

A federal court judge in Seattle ordered the government to notify asylum seekers that they are required by law to file their asylum applications within one year of their entry, and to adopt and...

  • Blog

A New Official ICE Policy Calls for the Detention of Pregnant Women

March 30, 2018

Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced on Thursday that it was ending its general practice of releasing pregnant women from immigration jail. Under its new policy, pregnant women will only...

  • Blog

USCIS Is Withholding Records Showing That Border Agents Are Abusing Asylum Seekers

March 26, 2018

As thousands of Central American families arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border asking for asylum in 2014, human rights organizations raised alarms about asylum seekers’ treatment by Customs and...

  • Blog

Lawsuit Challenges the Government’s Policy of Indefinitely Detaining Asylum Seekers

March 22, 2018

A class action lawsuit was filed on March 15, 2018 challenging the U.S. government’s practice of detaining asylum seekers indefinitely and argues the practice is an attempt to deter future asylum...

  • Blog

Immigrants Rights Group Sues U.S. Government Over Family Separation at the Border

March 2, 2018

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit this week to demand the immediate release and reunification of an asylum-seeking Congolese mother and her 7 year-old daughter, who had...

  • Blog

USCIS Changes to Asylum Interview Scheduling Allows Long-Pending Cases to Languish

February 23, 2018

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) made abrupt and sweeping changes to how the agency will schedule interviews for affirmative asylum applications. Rather than interviewing those...

  • Blog

Immigrant Women and Girls Often Face Abuse, Homelessness After Arriving to the United States

February 5, 2018

Immigrant women and girls face unique challenges in navigating the U.S. immigration system, their dire circumstances often exacerbated by the gender-based violence they encounter on the journey...

  • Blog

Decoding the White House Immigration Framework

January 26, 2018

After President Trump ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative, he instructed Congress to pass legislation to protect Dreamers. However, Congress had to wait for...

  • Blog

Three Year Anniversary of Family Detention Center Is Sad Reminder of America’s Cruelest Immigration Policy Practice

December 20, 2017

December marks the three-year anniversary of the opening of the country’s largest family detention center for non-citizen mothers and their minor children located in Dilley, Texas. Referred to as...

  • Blog

The Trump Administration Is Separating Children From Asylum-Seeking Parents at the Border

December 11, 2017

An alarming trend along the U.S.-Mexico border has escalated within the last year: the inhumane practice of separating immigrant children from their parents at the hands of U.S. immigration...

  • Blog

ICE Tells Parents to Separate From Their Children or Risk Indefinite Detention Together

May 19, 2020

When the Trump administration implemented mass family separation in 2018, the American public was outraged. Two years later, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is using a different...

  • Press Release

US: Lawsuit Over ‘Remain in Mexico’ Program Secrecy

May 14, 2020
The American Immigration Council, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Human Rights Watch, and the law firm Winston & Strawn LLP filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Northern District of California today to compel the release of records about the US Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the “Remain in Mexico” program.
  • FOIA Litigation

Council Sues Government to Compel Release of Records about ‘Remain in Mexico' Program

This Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeks to uncover information about the Migration Protection Protocols (MPP)—also known as the "Remain in Mexico" program.
  • Advocacy

Council and WilmerHale File Administrative Challenge to Burdensome Records Requirement for Employment Authorization

May 12, 2020

The Council and the law firm WilmerHale filed a petition with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) challenging the requirement that asylum seekers...

  • Blog

New Data Shows Border Patrol Agents Reject More Asylum Seekers

May 6, 2020

The Trump administration has used the coronavirus pandemic to justify shutting down the southern border—and much of our asylum system along with it. But long before the pandemic, the...

  • Press Release

A Federal Court Allows Parents and Children Torn Apart by Family Separation Policy to Continue Suit Against the Trump Administration

March 31, 2020
A federal court in Arizona allowed five asylum-seeking mothers and their children who were torn apart under the Trump administration’s family separation policy to move forward with a lawsuit against the United States for the cruel treatment and anguish U.S. immigration agencies inflicted on them. The court denied the government’s motion to dismiss the case.
  • Press Release

Federal Appeals Court Upholds Block on Trump Policy That Arbitrarily Jails Asylum Seekers

March 27, 2020
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has upheld a ruling blocking a Trump administration policy that categorically denies bond hearings to asylum seekers. The case is Padilla v. ICE.
  • Blog

How Coronavirus is Changing US Asylum Policy at the Border

March 23, 2020

The Trump administration detailed its plans to begin rapidly deporting to Mexico people encountered at or near the southern border—without any due process—as the coronavirus continues to spread...

  • Blog

CBP Hides Itself from Public View and Lacks Accountability

March 18, 2020

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has historically conducted immigration enforcement along our borders. In this role, the agency has developed a reputation for overuse and abuse of its...

  • Blog

DHS Reveals New Details of Secretive Asylum Programs PACR and HARP

March 11, 2020

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed new information this week about two asylum programs  at the U.S.-Mexico border. These programs are under scrutiny because they make it almost...

Most Read

  • Publications
  • Blog Posts
  • Past:
  • Trending