Circularity in Particular Social Group Decisions

by Jason Dzubow

This post is by Jim Feroli, an attorney with Immigration Legal Services (ILS) of Catholic Charities, Washington, DC. He has worked with ILS since 2014 and helps to manage the pro bono program. He focuses on asylum, U Visa and VAWA cases, and removal defense generally. He has also represented immigration clients before the Board of Immigration Appeals and U.S. Courts of Appeals.

I’m a movie fan. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend the film Gladiator. Russell Crowe stars as Maximus, a Roman general who is betrayed, sold into slavery, and forced to fight in gladiator matches. The movie has some good action scenes and strong acting by Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix, who plays the demented and cruel heir to the throne. It’s about persistence, redemption, and the human spirit and is worth a watch on Netflix.

As an immigration lawyer, I wondered would Maximus, as a slave in ancient Rome, qualify for membership in a particular social group? I’m sure most people watching the film had the same concern. My answer is yes. Maximus’s status is immutable. Slavery in this context is both a status and a condition. As much as Maximus may want to change his status, it is beyond his control. By chance he could be emancipated, but more likely, he will die a slave. Being a member of the group of slaves is also particular. It is distinct and the borders of the group are clear. There is a strong contrast between persons who are slaves—and thus private property—and those who are not. Generally, people should understand if they fit within the group of slaves or free persons, in this case Roman citizens. Lastly, the group is socially distinct. Legally and economically, society recognizes slaves as different. They are deprived the rights to participate in civic life and may be bought and sold by others. Certainly, a runaway slave should qualify for refugee status and not be returned to face additional persecution. (more…)

Continue reading

117 Comments

After the Asylum Grant: Asylee Benefits

by Jason Dzubow

This post is by Amy Doring, the Asylee Outreach Specialist at HIAS Headquarters in Maryland. The HIAS Asylee Outreach Project can be reached at asyleeoutreach@hias.org or at (240) 284-3306. Learn more about the initiative on its website, asyleeoutreach.org, and follow @asyleeoutreach on Facebook to attend an upcoming national Asylee Benefits Orientation webinar. If you are an asylee in Maryland, please reach out to the Asylee Outreach Project to access resettlement services. If you are in another state, please visit the For Asylees page of the project’s website to contact a resettlement agency near you.

Asylees are eligible for a variety of refugee benefits and services following their asylum grant. If you’re an asylee or an attorney and this is the first time you’re hearing about asylee benefits—you’re not alone! Fewer than 20% of asylees access resettlement benefits, most often because they are unaware that they are eligible for these benefits, or that they even exist.

Benefits for asylees are funded by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and include, but are not limited to: Cash assistance, medical insurance, employment services, English classes, and job training. It’s important to note that eligibility for these benefits is time sensitive. Free health screenings, which will help satisfy medical requirements for your future Green Card applications, are available only during the first three months after an asylum grant. Eligibility for refugee cash assistance and medical insurance, in turn, ends eight months after the date of an asylum grant. Lastly, the availability of free English classes, job training, case management, and employment support services ends five years after an asylum grant. With these strict timelines, it is immensely important that asylees be connected with resettlement services as soon as possible to take full advantage. Family members who are derivative asylees will also be eligible for these same benefits. (more…)

Continue reading

146 Comments

No One Should Have to Wait Years for the U.S. to Consider Their Asylum Claim

by Jason Dzubow

This article is by Andrea Barron, the advocacy program manager at the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International, based in Washington, DC. The article was originally published in the Washington Post.

Genet Lire Dobamo was a 17-year-old elite sprinter with the Ethiopian national team when she defected at Dulles International Airport in 2014, terrified of returning to her native Ethiopia. She held Ethiopia’s national title for the 400-meter race and had an excellent chance of representing her country in the 2016 Olympics. But Dobamo had been severely beaten by police for opposing Ethiopia’s one-party dictatorship and was frightened of being tortured again or even killed if she returned home.

She applied for asylum in March 2015 and was featured in a Washington Post story on elite Ethiopian runners seeking asylum in the United States. The Post reporter said the asylum process can take “months, sometimes more than a year.” Six years later, Dobamo has still not been interviewed by an asylum officer at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), part of the Department of Homeland Security. (more…)

Continue reading

131 Comments

Cancel Culture in Immigration Court

by Jason Dzubow

For “respondents” (non-citizens in removal proceedings) and their lawyers, Individual Hearings in Immigration Court are a big deal. Evidence must be gathered. Affidavits have to be prepared, checked, and re-checked. Witnesses must be identified, convinced to attend the hearing, and prepared for trial. Respondents practice their testimony. In most cases, the noncitizen has been waiting for many months or years for the trial date. The result of the trial determines whether the applicant can remain in the United States or must leave. When a respondent receives asylum, he is permitted to stay in the U.S. If he loses, he may be deported to a country where he faces danger. In many cases, respondents have family members here or overseas who are counting on them, and the outcome of the case affects the family members as well as the respondent. All of this provokes anxiety and anticipation. In short, Individual Hearings are life-changing events that profoundly effect respondents and their families.

So what happens when the Individual Hearing is canceled? (more…)

Continue reading

131 Comments

A Tale of the First Thanksgiving – or – The Beginner’s Guide to Immigration Bureaucracy

by Jason Dzubow

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving, celebrated in Massachusetts in 1621 by 53 Pilgrims and 90 Native Americans from the Wampanoag tribe. To commemorate this grand occasion, researchers here at the Asylumist have unearthed the original immigration file of one of the Pilgrim families, William and Mary Brewster, and their children Jonathan, Patience, Fear, Love, and Wrestling (and yes, those are their real names; if you don’t believe me, look it up). Here, for the first time, is that story.

The Brewster family arrived in North America on the Mayflower on November 21, 1620. They and their shipmates did not encounter anyone from Homeland Security, and so they entered without inspection and immediately began working without authorization to find food and shelter. But the land was barren and frozen, and the Pilgrims began to die off one-by-one. Seeing their plight, a group of Native American activists, calling themselves No More Deaths, illegally provided food to the beleaguered migrants. The Wampanoag council later charged these do-gooders with felony alien smuggling and other crimes, but failed to obtain a conviction. Predictably, this encouraged more Europeans to make the dangerous journey to America. These included nonconformists and Anabaptists, though some, we assume, were good people. (more…)

Continue reading

130 Comments

Asylum for Capitol Rioters

by Jason Dzubow

I suppose it was inevitable that some of the Trump supporters charged in the attack on our Capitol would seek asylum overseas. These people are already pre-disposed to victimhood, and so it makes sense that some would see their prosecution–for harming law enforcement officers, threatening government workers, disrupting an election, damaging federal property, and trespassing–as a form of persecution.

Also, there are plenty of governments around the world that want to harm our country by sowing division and encouraging further violence. And so it’s hardly surprising that certain nations would be only too happy to offer asylum to the Capitol rioters, as a way to stick it to the United States.

We now have our first (known) example of a Capitol rioter seeking asylum abroad. Evan Neumann is wanted in the U.S. on charges of violent entry and disorderly conduct on the Capitol grounds, and for assaulting, resisting and obstructing law enforcement during civil disorder. He has fled to Belarus and applied for asylum. It would be easy to mock Mr. Neumann and the “Republic” of Belarus, but here, I want to discuss whether Mr. Neumann might qualify for asylum under international law. (more…)

Continue reading

161 Comments

Ten Suggestions for David Neal, the New EOIR Director

by Jason Dzubow

On September 24, 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that David Neal would take over as Director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (“EOIR”), the organization that oversees our nation’s Immigration Courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”).

Director Neal was Chairman of the BIA, from 2009 to 2019, when he was apparently forced out by the Trump Administration. Mr. Neal also served as Vice Chairman of the BIA, Chief Immigration Judge, Assistant Chief Immigration Judge, Immigration Judge (“IJ”), and Assistant to the Director. Indeed, he comes to the Directorship with probably more and diverse EOIR experience than any prior director. To top it off, he has a Master of Divinity from Harvard University (and of course a JD, but those are a dime a dozen).

The new Director will certainly need to draw on his past experience–and possibly seek divine intervention–as the agency he is now helming is a real mess. Currently, there are more than 1.4 million cases in the Immigration Court backlog. I have not found recent data on the BIA backlog, but in April 2020, it stood at 70,183 cases. To address the court backlog, EOIR is staffing up–from 535 judges to a projected 734 by the end of the current fiscal year (September 30, 2022). We are also seeing an increase in online and training resources for respondents (noncitizens in immigration proceedings) and practitioners.

Even during his short tenure, Director Neal has begun to take some positive steps. Aside from the new resources, EOIR has ended case completion quotas for Immigration Judge and also signaled a willingness to work with the National Association of Immigration Judges (the judges’ union), which the prior Administration had tried to de-certify.

These are encouraging signs, and hopefully we will also start to see improvements related more directly to respondents’ cases in Immigration Court and the BIA. Luckily for David Neal, I am here to offer my own suggestions (and who doesn’t love unsolicited advice?). These are my ten great ideas for EOIR– (more…)

Continue reading

227 Comments

Looking for Fraud in All the Wrong Places

by Jason Dzubow

Maybe you’ve heard this old joke–

One night, a policeman sees a drunk man searching for something under a streetlight and asks what he has lost. The man says he lost his keys and they both look under the streetlight together. After a few minutes the policeman asks if the drunk is sure he lost the keys here. The drunk replies, no, he lost them in the park. Surprised, the policeman asks why he is searching here, and the drunk replies, “This is where the light is.”

Asylum interviews these days remind me of this joke. We spend–literally–hours sifting through testimony and evidence, as the Officer goes on a fishing expedition for fraud, even in cases where it’s quite clear that no fraud exists. Why is this happening? How can you prepare for these questions? (more…)

Continue reading

191 Comments

Death by Bureaucracy

by Jason Dzubow

What’s it like to practice immigration law these days?

For a case in Immigration Court, we write the affidavit, gather evidence, get witness statements, research country conditions, organize everything, copy it, and submit copies to the court and to DHS within the 30-day deadline. We then hold practice sessions with the client and witnesses. A few days before the trial date, we check the online system. The case is canceled. There is no new date. There is no explanation.

We file an application for an asylee’s Green Card. The case takes forever. The client moves. We file a change of address and get an online confirmation. Finally, the client receives an online notice: The Green Card has been mailed and delivered. But not to his current address. USCIS has sent the card somewhere else. Maybe to his old address, but who knows? He does not have it, and requests to re-deliver the card have no effect. (more…)

Continue reading

206 Comments

Asylum for Afghan Parolees (and How It Could Affect All Asylum Seekers)

by Jason Dzubow

Even before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, that country was suffering a humanitarian disaster. In 2020, about 2.5 million Afghans were living outside their country as refugees; another 3.5 million were displaced within Afghanistan. In August 2021, the Taliban occupied Kabul, which triggered one of the largest air evacuations in history–over 124,000 people were flown out of Hamid Karzai International Airport. 

Where all these people will go remains an open questions. As usual, Afghanistan’s neighbors are hosting the large majority of refugees, with more than 1.4 million in Pakistan and about 780,000 in Iran. Significant numbers of people are also in Europe and Turkey.

The United States is also accepting Afghans, and we are currently in the process of receiving about 50,000 people for permanent resettlement. Given our long involvement in Afghanistan, and that many Afghans relied on us and assisted our efforts, it seems only right that we protect those in need. The problem (or, more accurately, one problem) is that for most Afghan evacuees, there is no legal mechanism for them to remain permanently in the U.S., and so their legal status in our country is uncertain. (more…)

Continue reading

164 Comments

Trump May Be Gone, but the U.S. Asylum System Is Still Broken

by Jason Dzubow

This article is by Basileus Zeno, a Syrian asylum seeker and the Karl Loewenstein Fellow and Visiting Lecturer in Political Science at Amherst College.

In 2011, when the Arab Spring swept across the Middle East, my wife, Katty, and I didn’t hesitate to heed the call for freedom and dignity in Syria. We protested, published essays, documented human rights violations and participated in leadership meetings with other political activists. Looking back, we were lucky: We landed in the United States in mid-2012, just before the Syrian government launched a vicious crackdown that left most of our closest friends either in prison or fleeing for their lives. Devastated, and realizing we could not safely return to Damascus, I applied for asylum.

Then, for eight years, I waited. (more…)

Continue reading

169 Comments

The Trumpian Logic of the Biden Asylum Policy

by Jason Dzubow

This summer, pro-immigrant Representative Gerry Connelly (D-Virginia) wrote to USCIS inquiring about the affirmative asylum backlog. The USCIS response is instructive.

First, USCIS notes that, “The backlog is the result of the mathematical reality that USCIS receives more cases than it can adjudicate given current resources.” That much is true. But here’s the money shot, which is where I part ways with the Biden Administration’s reasoning–

LIFO is a critical tool in controlling non-meritorious or fraudulent applications filed to take advantage of the backlog in order to obtain work authorization. But for LIFO, the backlog would doubtlessly be worse.

The evidence for this supposition is weak, and as I view things, based more on coincidence than causation. While the number of new cases decreased under LIFO, other factors–such as the Trump Administration’s Muslim travel ban, “extreme vetting” for visa applicants, and the coronavirus pandemic–better explain the reduction in new asylum filings. Here, we’ll examine how LIFO affects the backlog, and why I think the agency is wrong to conclude that the last-in, first-out system helps prevent fraud. (more…)

Continue reading

232 Comments

The Asylumist Panel Discussion

by Jason Dzubow

Earlier this month, I participated in a panel discussion about the U.S. asylum system and my new book, The Asylumist: How to Seek Asylum in the United States and Keep Your Sanity. The event was sponsored by Ayuda, and we raised over $1000 for that worthy organization. Panelists at the event included retired Immigration Judge Lisa Dornell, Ayuda’s Legal Director, Laurie Ball Cooper, and torture survivor and advocate Tensay Kelile. The event was held at Immigrant Food, a DC restaurant that celebrates immigrants and their contributions to our country. Special thanks to Peter Schechter of Immigrant Food, who hosted and moderated the panel.

At the event, we discuss the state of asylum in the U.S., and make some suggestions for how the Biden Administration can improve the system. We also hear from Tensay Kelile about his persecution in Ethiopia and about the years-long wait he has endured as an asylum seeker.  

You can watch the event below, and you can donate to Ayuda here. Also, all profits from my book through the end of this month will go to Ayuda, so now is a great time time to buy a copy or three!

(more…)

Continue reading

83 Comments

Congress Addresses the Asylum Office Backlog

by Jason Dzubow

In April, I wrote about our efforts to lobby Congress for help with the affirmative asylum backlog. Those efforts have finally born some fruit. Last week, forty Democratic members of Congress wrote a letter to Alejandro Mayorkas, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and Ur Jaddou, the Director of USCIS.

In the letter, the Members of Congress express their concern about the affirmative asylum backlog, which currently stands at well over 400,000 cases. The letter notes that many people in the backlog have already suffered severe trauma in their home countries, and expresses particular concern for “those who have languished in the backlog for extended periods of time—some close to seven years.” Many of these applicants are separated from immediate family members and have not seen their spouses or children for years. 

Unless it passes a new law, Congress does not have the authority to order DHS or USCIS to take particular actions. However, this new letter is significant in that–for the first time–Congress is “recommending” certain actions by the agency to address the backlog. I imagine such recommendations must be taken seriously, given that Congress does ultimately control funding for DHS and, to a lesser extent, USCIS (USCIS is largely funded by user fees). Hopefully, the agencies will take a look at these recommendations and make some changes to help those who have been waiting the longest. The main recommendations are as follows– (more…)

Continue reading

177 Comments

Reflections and Advice from a Recently-Retired Asylum Officer

by Jason Dzubow

This article is by Allen Schwartz, a former Asylum Officer who now offers consulting services to asylum seekers and attorneys. He may be reached at allen.schwartz@visaconsults.com or (305) 528-6474. Learn more about him at his website, www.visaconsults.com.

After a 23-year career as an Asylum Officer with INS/USCIS, I decided to retire in late 2019 and pursue my lifelong passions, such as travel and exploring this incredible world with its wide variety of people, cultures, and languages. I also planned on utilizing my extensive background in immigration, particularly asylum and refugee work, as a consultant. Little did I know or could have predicted that a few months after my retirement, the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world in unimaginable ways and turned “normal life” upside down. As a result of the pandemic, international borders were closed, embassies and consulates were shut down, travel was severely restricted, and immigration to the United States came to an almost virtual standstill.

COVID-19 has also dramatically reduced the number of affirmative asylum cases being scheduled and interviewed at our Asylum Offices here in the United States and the affirmative asylum backlog has continued to grow exponentially. Only recently have we seen that in-person asylum interviews are being scheduled again, albeit at a significantly reduced number.

Before COVID-19, each Asylum Officer was required to interview eight cases per week, a very daunting task. Currently, the number of interviews have been cut at least in half in most offices, since the Asylum Officer, the attorney/representative, and the applicant must be in separate rooms. A recent policy change requires that interpretation must be provided by a telephonic government-contracted translator during the interview. Prior to COVID-19, applicants were required to bring their own interpreter for the interview. The future for an accelerated and expansive interview schedule for affirmative asylum cases remains to be seen. While we wait, I have prepared a six-point “best advice” list for your review– (more…)

Continue reading

122 Comments