State Department

# Asylum Seekers

The Unjust Justification for Revoking Asylum Seekers’ Visas

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) plans to revoke up to 200,000 visitor visas for people who came to the United States and then applied for asylum. The move is largely symbolic, since the whole point of a visa is to allow someone to enter the country. Once they are here, the visa is no longer needed.

Revoking all these visas will be quite a production; so why would DOS go to the trouble if it has no real-world effect? Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau justified the revocation by claiming that people are “fed up with bogus asylum claims” and that asylum “isn’t supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration laws.” He cites one recent example–of Colombian national Humberto ‘Beto’ Coral–which supposedly “highlights such abuse.” Mr. Landau’s accusations against Mr. Coral are revealing; not for what they say about Mr. Coral, but instead, because they illustrate the Trump Administration’s ignorance of our asylum system, and its cavalier attitude towards the rule of law.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Asylum Seekers# Human Rights# International

Dishonest State Department Reports Seek to Undermine Asylum Claims

For me, the worst part about the Trump Administration’s immigration policies is not that they are detaining and deporting more people, or that they are changing the rules to make immigration more difficult and expensive. For me, the worst part is that the Administration constantly lies about non-citizens: that they are criminals, that come to the U.S. to steal our resources, that they don’t contribute to our country, that they don’t really face persecution back home. 

The newest iteration of the Administration’s mendacity is the State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, which is meant to be a summary of human rights conditions in each country around the world (except for our own country, of course). These reports have long included information about a wide range of problematic behavior, including the treatment of women, LGBT individuals, and other vulnerable people.

The newest Reports, released earlier this week, contain little information about the treatment of women and, as far as I can tell, no mention what-so-ever about the persecution of sexual minorities. The issue for asylum seekers is that Immigration Judges and Asylum Officers rely on these Reports when they make their decisions. If the Reports minimize human rights abuses, it becomes more difficult to obtain asylum.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Asylum Seekers# Human Rights

Disingenuous State Department Report Seeks to Block Refugee Women

The 2017 State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices is out, and the news is not good. The Report makes clear that the Department of State (“DOS”) has joined our government’s effort to block asylum seekers by any means necessary–including undermining their claims by lying about conditions in the home countries. Let’s start with a … Read more

By Jason Dzubow
# Asylum# Asylum Seekers# Immigration Court

EOIR to Stop Wasting DOS’s Time

The Executive Office for Immigration Review has published new proposed regulations that would amend the requirement that all asylum applications filed with the Immigration Court also be filed with the Department of State.  Until now, when an alien files a defensive asylum application (form I-589) in court, he was required to file a second copy … Read more

By Jason Dzubow
# Asylees and Refugees

Wonderful State Department Publication on Refugees

Since 1975, the United States has resettled almost 3 million refugees and asylum seekers, more than all other resettlement countries combined.  The most recent edition of the U.S. State Department’s eJournalUSA is entitled, Refugees: Building New Lives in the USA.  It presents a number of moving stories about refugees and the Americans who assist them.  From the … Read more

By Jason Dzubow