Law Commons^™

Rejecting Refugees: Homeland Security's Administration Of The One-Year Bar To Asylum, Philip G. Schrag, Andrew I. Schoenholtz, Jaya Ramji-Nogales, James P. Dombach

William & Mary Law Review

Since 1980, the Refugee Act has offered asylum to people who flee to the United States to escape persecution in their homeland. In 1996, however, Congress amended the law to bar asylum—regardless of the merits of the underlying claim—for any applicant who fails to apply within one year of entering the United States, unless the applicant qualifies for one of two exceptions to the rule.

In the years since the bar was established, anecdotal reports have suggested that genuine refugees, with strong claims to asylum, have been rejected solely because of the deadline. Many scholars and practitioners suspected that this …

Toward A More Individualized Assessment Of Changed Country Conditions Of Kosovar Asylum-Seekers, Christian A. Fundo

Cornell International Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Spaces Of Freedom For Citizens And Asylees In The Eu And U.S., Francis J. Conte

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Applying Torture And Asylum Protections To Prevent The Deportation Of Persons With Hiv/Aids, Christine Chiu

Christine Chiu

Granting a foreign national with HIV/AIDS permission to remain in a country, whether temporarily or indefinitely, is a weighty decision. Faced with limited resources and often fervent public antagonism towards increased immigration, states must pick and choose whom to expel from its borders. This paper examines the extent to which HIV status is considered in determining whether a petitioner is eligible or even has a right to remain in a country. The analysis consists largely of a comparison of the asylum and torture protections afforded to petitioners with HIV/AIDS in the United States, Canada, and the European Court of Human …

A Tale Of Two Decades: War Refugees And Asylum Policy In The European Union, Maryellen Fullerton

Maryellen Fullerton

A Tale of Two Decades: War Refugees and Asylum Policy in the European Union

The past twenty years have seen profound developments in the institutional competence of the European Union to address issues of migration and refugee status. The growth of the internal market, the expansion of passport-free travel, and the continuing arrival of individuals fleeing war or persecution led to the realization that a joint European approach to asylum seekers was necessary. Negotiations among the Member States have resulted in a Common European Asylum System. These European developments are largely unknown among refugee scholars, decision makers, and advocates in …

Matter Of S-E-G-: The Final Nail In The Coffin For Gang-Related Asylum Claims?, Lindsay M. Harris, Morgan M. Weibel

Journal Articles

In July 2008, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA)1 affirmed an Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of asylum to three young Salvadoran siblings fleeing gang violence and threats. This decision affects the likelihood that other youth and their family members fleeing gang violence will gain protection in the United States. The reach of the BIA decision in Matter of S-E-G-2 stretches far beyond the facts of the actual case or gang cases in general and may shape the future of asylum based on membership in a particular social group. The BIA published Matter of S-E-G- as one of only 36 precedent …

Welcoming Women: Recent Changes In U.S. Asylum Law, Jillian Blake

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

The Statue of Liberty, which has been called the "Mother of Exiles," stands as a reminder of one of the foundational ideals of U.S. immigration policy-providing refuge to the vulnerable. Women worldwide have new reason to believe in this promise, because victims of domestic violence may now have a better chance of being granted asylum in a U.S. immigration court.

Left Out In The Cold: Trafficking Victims, Gender, And Misinterpretation Of The Refugee Convention's "Nexus" Requirement, Martina Pomeroy

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

Victims of human trafficking who seek international protection in their country of destination face a steep uphill battle. Special visa programs designed to regularize their status are often riddled with conditions that make them inaccessible to all but a very few victims. Despite widespread international agreement that the manifold harms inflicted upon the majority of trafficked persons generally rise to the level of persecution, and therefore that victims should be eligible to apply for asylum, many national courts misinterpret international refugee law standards and routinely deny refugee status to deserving applicants. Courts often refuse to recognize persecution on the basis …

Refugee Credibility Assessment And The “Religious Imposter” Problem, Michael Kagan

Scholarly Works

Credibility assessment in refugee status determination (RSD) poses unique challenges when the outcome of asylum applications turns on the question of whether an asylum seeker is actually a member of a persecuted religious minority. These cases require secular adjudicators to delve into matters of religious identity and faith that are, by their nature, subjective and beyond the realm of objective analysis. This Article explores practical means of addressing this challenge through a case study of the RSD interviews of Eritrean asylum seekers in Egypt who based their refugee claims on Pentecostal religious associations. Analysis of the interview methods used in …

Leveraging Asylum, James C. Hathaway

Articles

I believe that the analysis underlying the leveraged right to asylum is conceptually flawed. As I will show, there is no duty of non-refoulement that binds all states as a matter of customary international law and it is not the case that all persons entitled to claim protection against refoulement of some kind are ipso facto entitled to refugee rights. These claims are unsound precisely because the critical bedrock of a real international legal obligation-namely, the consent of states evinced by either formal commitments or legally relevant actions -does not yet exist.

Rejecting Refugees: Homeland Security's Administration Of The One-Year Bar To Asylum, Andrew I. Schoenholtz, Philip G. Schrag, Jaya Ramji-Nogales, James P. Dombach

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Since 1980, the Refugee Act has offered asylum to people who flee to the United States to escape persecution in their homeland. In 1996, however, Congress amended the law to bar asylum – regardless of the merit of the underlying claim – for any applicant who fails to apply within one year of entering the United States, unless the applicant qualifies for one of two exceptions to the rule.

In the years since the bar was established, anecdotal reports have suggested that genuine refugees, with strong merits claims to asylum, have been rejected solely because of the deadline. Many scholars …

Welcoming Women: Recent Changes In U.S. Asylum Law, Jillian Blake

Jillian Blake

No abstract provided.