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

United States Seeks to Reject Asylum Seekers by Designating Mexico a Safe Third Country

June 1, 2018

For generations, the United States has opened its doors to individuals from around the world seeking safety and protection. The process of seeking asylum in the United States is rigorous and well-...

  • Blog

DHS Prosecutes Over 600 Parents in Two-Week Span and Seizes their Children

May 25, 2018

Following implementation of a “zero tolerance” policy by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ), where migrants who enter without inspection are referred for...

  • Blog

Government’s Detention of Pregnant Women Questioned by Immigration Groups

May 3, 2018

The government continues the appalling practice of detaining pregnant women, most of whom are seeking safety and protection in the United States. Following an official policy change by Immigration...

  • Blog

The Government Is Filing Charges Against More Migrants Than Ever Before

May 1, 2018

  The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it filed criminal charges on Tuesday to prosecute some migrants who recently crossed the border and were reportedly once a part of the caravan. The vast...

  • Blog

Customs and Border Protection Is Breaking the Law by Refusing Entry to the Migrant Caravan Members

April 30, 2018

Recent reports from the San Ysidro Port of Entry in Tijuana, Mexico indicate that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers have refused entry to a caravan of up to 200 migrant men, women, and...

  • Blog

Canadian Lawsuit Challenges the United States’ Designation as a Safe Country for Asylum Seekers

April 20, 2018

The United States has historically been viewed as a nation that welcomes refugees fleeing from violence and persecution in their home countries. Yet, the Trump administration recently reiterated...

  • Blog

New Border Policies Could Have a Big Impact on Families, Children, and Asylum Seekers

April 10, 2018

Undocumented immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border increasingly consist of asylum seekers fleeing record levels of violence in Central America. But the Trump administration’s response to this...

  • Blog

Immigration Groups Demand Records Related to Family Separation at the Border

April 5, 2018

To shed light on the cruel and unlawful practice of family separation, a group of immigrant rights organizations filed a series of Freedom of Information Act requests to multiple government...

  • Blog

Migrant Caravan Making Its Way North to Be Greeted By a Complex Web of Immigration Laws

April 3, 2018

Slowing making their way north through Mexico is a large caravan of migrants searching for safe haven, an opportunity to work, or the chance to reunite with family. Some will remain in Mexico,...

  • 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...

  • Press Release

Trump Administration Plans Unnecessary and Unconscionable Ban on Asylum Seekers Masked Behind False Public Health Premise

July 8, 2020
The Trump Administration announced a soon-to-be-published proposed rule that would allow the Department of Homeland Security to ban people from seeking asylum in the United States solely because they traveled from or through a country under threat by a serious disease. For the first time, the Trump administration would also ban “withholding of removal,” a related form of protection that the Department of Justice has previously agreed in court it cannot eliminate without violating international law.
  • Blog

Federal Court Strikes Down Trump’s Asylum Transit Ban in Momentous Victory

July 1, 2020

On June 30, a federal judge in the District of Columbia struck down the Trump administration’s asylum transit ban, ending a sweeping policy that had shut down asylum for most people entering the...

  • Blog

DHS Suggests Asylum Seekers Should Get Used to ‘Homelessness’ After Stripping Work Permits

June 24, 2020

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will finalize a new regulation on June 26 which will strip most asylum seekers of the right to seek work authorization. The rule imposes sweeping new...

  • Blog

What You Need to Know About Trump’s Proposal to Eliminate the US Asylum System

June 11, 2020

In sweeping new proposed regulations announced on June 11, the Trump administration took the first step toward administering a final blow to the U.S. asylum system. The proposed rules, which...

  • Press Release

New Regulation on Asylum Seeks to Erase Our Immigration History and Legacy

June 11, 2020
The Trump administration proposed a regulation that would eviscerate the United States asylum system. The proposed regulation would make it nearly impossible for most applicants to successfully claim humanitarian protection in the United States.
  • Blog

5 Ways Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Agenda Gets in the Way of an Effective Coronavirus Response

May 27, 2020

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government has implemented sweeping revisions to U.S. immigration policy. Many of the changes fail to prioritize the health of immigrants or...

  • Press Release

New Report Reveals the Impact of COVID-19 Across the US Immigration System

May 27, 2020
The American Immigration Council's latest report examines major changes to the U.S. immigration system in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the unique challenges the pandemic has created for noncitizens and government agencies.
  • Blog

Trump Is Using the Coronavirus Pandemic as an Excuse to Permanently Close the Borders

May 26, 2020

The Trump administration has indefinitely extended its ban on immigration at U.S. land borders.  The order was also expanded to include immigrants arriving at coastal ports. The ban is based on an...

  • 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.

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