Yesterday U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memorandum providing guidance to asylum officers in light of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recent ruling in the asylum case known as Matter of A-B-. The new memorandum marks yet another shameful attempt by the Trump Administration to shut down access to the U.S. asylum system, in blatant violation of our domestic and international legal obligations to refugees.
A federal court has blocked the arbitrary detention of asylum seekers fleeing persecution, torture, or death in their countries of origin. It also ordered a case-by-case review of whether each asylum seeker in the class-action lawsuit should be released on humanitarian parole. The ruling stems from a challenge brought by the ACLU, CGRS, Human Rights First, and Covington & Burling LLP.
CGRS decries yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling allowing the Trump Administration’s Muslim ban to remain in effect. The latest version of the ban is no less discriminatory than its previous iterations, and yesterday’s decision marks a failure on the part of the Court to hold this Administration accountable for its unconstitutional attacks on Muslim communities.
