Asylum and Its Discontents in the United States
The Executive Office for Immigration Review has released its Statistical Yearbook for FY 2010. Page 33 of the report lists the Immigration Court grant rates for affirmative and defensive asylum cases. According to the report: There is some difference in the grant rates depending on whether the asylum application was filed affirmatively or defensively. There are … Read more
This blog entry is by ace reporter Maria Raquel McFadden. Ms. McFadden is also a freelance business, legal, and immigration interpreter with 10 years experience. She has interpreted in various forums including courts, immigration interviews, depositions, and business meetings. Ms. McFadden is registered with the State of Maryland and can be reached at: Office: 202-709-3602 or Cell: 202-360-2736; … Read more
Two female asylum seekers who were offered asylum in exchange for sex can sue the federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”), 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b), ruled the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. See Xue v. Powell, No. 08-56421 (9th Cir. Sept. 2, 2010). The two women are Chinese nationals who … Read more
From a friend, who observes court hearings, but prefers to remain anonymous: Imagine showing up to one of the most important meetings in your life, wearing a top cut so low that there is an eminent risk of “wardrobe malfunction” or maybe with pants hanging so low it’s a miracle that you’ve not tripped as … Read more
I recently came across an interesting article from the Journal of Refugee Studies, “A Rare Examination of Typically Unobservable Factors in US Asylum Decisions,” which analyzes data from 81 asylum cases to determine the “unobservable factors” that influenced the decisions in those cases. The authors had access to cases litigated by the Human Rights Initiative of North … Read more
Under INA § 235(b), an alien who appears at the border and claims asylum or expresses a fear of persecution must be interviewed. The Refugee Protection Act would require DHS to record these interviews. Currently, asylum interviews at the border (or the airport) are generally not recorded. As a result, there are often disputes about what … Read more
USCIS Asylum Division will hold its quarterly stakeholders meeting in Washington, DC on June 8, 2010 at 2:00 PM. For details about attending the meeting, RSVP information, and how to submit questions, view the USCIS Memo. Questions are due by close of business on May 21, 2010, and RSVPs are due by close of busines on June … Read more
Below is the story of an asylee from Eritrea. She prefers to keep her name confidential: I was born in 1979 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I was an Ethiopian at birth but I am an Eritrean national. Eritrea is a little known country in East Africa of about 5 million people. Eritrea was forcefully annexed … Read more
Joseph E. Langlois, Chief of the Asylum Division at USCIS, issued a memo declaring that within the Seventh Circuit, former gang membership “may” form a “particular social group.” The memo was prompted by a decision in the Seventh Circuit, Ramos v. Holder, 589 F.3d 426 (7th Cir. 2009), which held that former gang membership is a … Read more