Jerusalem Demsas, The Atlantic, Feb. 19, 2024 [free gift link!] "Sometimes the best way to understand why something is going wrong is to look at what’s going right. The asylum seekers from the border aren’t the only outsiders in town. Russia’s...
Stephen Yale-Loehr, Evangeline Charles, Isaac Belenkiy report: "IES is a 41-year-old man from Mexico who first came to the U.S. when he was 18 years old. As a youth, IES joined a gang. He was arrested in 2005 for possessing a small quantity of drugs and...
Kathleen Bush-Joseph, MPI, Feb. 2024 "Known for its long tradition of providing refuge, the U.S. humanitarian protection system is under significant strain at a time of mass displacements globally, a backlog of 2 million asylum applications, and record arrivals...
Singh v. Garland " “Because of the IJ’s lack of clarity” as to which party was required to show that Singh could or could not safely relocate, we remand Singh’s asylum claim based on his membership in the family of Balkar Singh to...
Maria Ramirez Uribe, PolitiFact, Feb. 2, 2024 "President Joe Biden says he has done everything under his authority to try to reduce illegal immigration at the U.S. southern border, and that he’ll be able to do more once Congress passes a new bill....
Carine Hajjar, Boston Globe, Jan. 26, 2024 "[C]urrent policies at the border funnel migrants into a system where their long-term legal claim to "the American dream" is uncertain, and for many, unlikely. ... In the end, many migrants "will...
Pineda-Maldonado v. Garland "Ricardo Jose Pineda-Maldonado ("Pineda-Maldonado") is a native and citizen of El Salvador. He petitions for review of the decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") that denied his application for...
Al Omaisi v. Garland "On this record, the BIA’s summary conclusion that Al Omaisi did not present evidence indicating an objectively reasonable fear of future persecution is insufficient for us confidently to conclude that the BIA acted within its...
Espinoza-Ochoa v. Garland "Here, the IJ and BIA found, and the government does not dispute, that Espinoza-Ochoa credibly testified that he experienced harm and threats of harm in Guatemala that "constitute[d] persecution." But the agency concluded...
Mona Iman, Robyn Barnard, Shala Gafary, Human Rights First, Dec. 22, 2023 "Mohammad is an Afghan citizen of the Hazara ethnic minority and Shi’a religion, who fled Afghanistan after repeated threats to his life following the Taliban’s consolidation...
When the BIA issued Matter of M-R-M-S- on Dec. 1, 2023 advocates were troubled. Responding to the challenge, two experts have posted these practice advisories: 1. Victoria Neilson, NIPNLG, Dec. 21, 2023 2. Jeffrey S. Chase, Dec. 24, 2023
Sebastian-Sebastian v. Garland "[T]he Board found that Sebastian-Sebastian failed to demonstrate a nexus between her particular social groups and the harm she faced. In its denial of CAT protection, the Board found that Sebastian-Sebastian failed to demonstrate...
Seth Freed Wessler, New York Times, Dec. 6, 2023 "People intercepted at sea, even in U.S. waters, have fewer rights than those who come by land. “Asylum does not apply at sea,” a Coast Guard spokesman told me. Even people who are fleeing violence...
ABA, Dec. 4, 2023 "American Bar Association President Mary Smith wrote to the U.S. Senate to urge senators to continue working towards bipartisan solutions to the difficult challenges presented at the U.S. southern border. However, the ABA would oppose including...
Matter of M-R-M-S-, 28 I&N Dec. 757 (BIA 2023) - If a persecutor is targeting members of a certain family as a means of achieving some other ultimate goal unrelated to the protected ground, family membership is incidental or subordinate to that other ultimate...