According to reporting from Buzzfeed News, an LGBT asylum seeker was recently sent to Guatemala as part of President Trump’s new so-called “Safe Third Country” program. This took place despite the fact that Guatemala—a country that is dealing with considerable levels of poverty and violence—is essentially just as dangerous as Honduras and El Salvador. Here,…
On January 31st, 2020, ProPublica published a disturbing account of how the Border Patrol’s heightened legal powers and the agency’s general carelessness have resulted in continued family separations at the southern border. The account that is highlighted in the report paints a very troubling picture of how the Trump Administration is treating vulnerable asylum-seekers. Families…
On January 9th, 2020, the Los Angeles Times published an important and illuminating story on Bismarck, North Dakota—a relatively small and racially homogenous city that, while once considered to be a haven for refugees from all around the world, has become a much more challenging place for immigrants to live in the era of President…
On November 15th, 2019, the Los Angeles Times published a story about an asylum officer who is standing up and fighting back against President Trump’s “illegal” and “immoral” immigration policies. Doug Stephens, a Northern California-based asylum officer, told reporters from the Los Angeles Times that he will no longer implement the Trump Administration’s so-called ‘Migrant…
According to reporting from BuzzFeed News, Trump Administration officials are actively pushing new and increased immigration fees. Not only is President Trump proposing a new rule that would require asylum seekers to pay a fee, but administration officials are also moving forward on increased fees across several different types of immigration applications. Here, our Los…
An immigrant who faces a credible fear of persecution in their country of origin may be eligible to obtain asylum protection in the United States. Although asylum is the most well known immigration options for people who face imminent danger in their native country, it is not the only option that is currently available under…
According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, the Trump Administration announced that it will not allow any independent access to the so-called “immigration tent courts” that have been set up in multiple locations along the United States-Mexico border in Texas. Indeed, neither the press, legal observers, no members of the public will be allowed…
According to reporting from the Associated Press, the Supreme Court of the United States will allow the Trump Administration to enforce a devastating new rule that will prevent many Central American migrants from obtaining asylum protections in California and other states. By a vote of seven to two (7-2), the nation’s highest court has allowed…
On August 23rd, 2019, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that U.S. Attorney General William Barr is disproportionately promoting immigration judges with unusually high denial rates in asylum claims. This news comes at the same time that the Trump Administration is putting a number of additional barriers in front of asylum seekers — including putting some…
According to reporting from PBS NewsHour, the Trump Administration has rolled out a new pilot program — putting more than 56,000 immigration cases on a “fast track”. Ten cities have been included within this pilot program, including Los Angeles. While frustrating delays and lengthy backlogs have been a major problem in immigration courts, the Trump…
