Many people come to the United States seeking protection because they have suffered persecution or fear that they will be harmed if they return to their home country. Asylum is a form of protection our government may grant to someone fleeing their country because they fear they will be harmed based on their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. This area of immigration law is very complicated but is essential to those fleeing their countries in search of safety.

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) builds the capacity of immigration advocates to assist immigrants in their claims for asylum in order to provide more immigrants with a meaningful chance at justice. As experts in the field, the ILRC publishes The Essentials of Asylum Law, a manual which provides a thorough review of asylum law with practice tips. In addition, the ILRC hosts several webinars on asylum law and emerging issues. We also support practitioners in their specific cases through our Attorney of the Day (AOD) technical assistance service.

Latest in Asylum

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Practice Alert: Temporary Changes to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in Response to COVID-19

01/06/2021
Asylum
Citizenship and Naturalization
DACA
Public Charge
Family-Based
U Visa/T Visa/VAWA
This practice alert provides a brief summary of temporary changes U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has made in response to COVID-19. Changes include plans for reopening USCIS facilities after suspending all in-person services, including interviews and biometrics appointments, from March 18 to June 3, 2020; automatic extensions for Requests for Evidence (RFEs), Notices of Intent...
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Initial Jurisdiction over UC Asylum Claims: Matter of M-A-C-O-, the Lafferty Memo, and JOP v. DHS

12/21/2020
Immigrant Youth
Removal Defense
Asylum
The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 confers initial jurisdiction over asylum claims filed by unaccompanied children (UCs) to the asylum office. The Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision in Matter of M-A-C-O- , as well as recent policy changes by the Trump administration have sought to strip away this crucial protection from many child asylum seekers. Because of these...
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Regulation Creates New Crimes Bars to Asylum

12/11/2020
Crimes
Asylum
Post-Conviction Relief
In October 2020, DHS and DOJ published a final regulation that sets out wide-ranging and draconian bars to applying for, and bases to terminate a grant of, asylum. For example, the bars include conviction of any felony, any controlled substance offense, a single DUI with injury, a DUI with a DUI prior (regardless of injury), and domestic violence bars based on the underlying conduct. The...
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Medi-Cal in California: Addressing Community Concerns about Public Charge

11/11/2020
Public Charge
DACA
Family-Based
Asylum
Community Resources
People with various immigration statuses, and in some cases without any immigration status, qualify for Medi-Cal in California. California provides Medi-Cal health insurance through state funds to many California residents that would not qualify for the federal Medicaid program. When considering applying for immigration status, many noncitizens worry that using Medi-Cal in California will harm...

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