In early 2012, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) issued an non-precedential decision in the case of an NIJC client represented by a pro bono attorney. This client sought asylum based on fears of formed marriage and FGM, but did not file her application within one year of her entry into the United States. The immigration judge granted withholding of removal, but denied...
On December 15, 2011, the American Immigration Council (AIC) filed a nationwide class action complaint against USCIS and EOIR alleging widespread problems with the asylum clock. A.B.T. et al. v. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services et al., No. 11-2108 (W.D. Wash. filed December 15, 2011). The complaint addresses three main problems with the asylum clock: (1)...
On November 15, 2011, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) issued a new memorandum (OPPM 11-02) regarding the “asylum clock.” The memo significantly alters the way immigration judges (IJs) are instructed to assess an applicant’s eligibility for an expedited merits hearing and the manner in which IJs control the accrual of asylum clock time – which directly impacts...
The Chicago Immigration Court and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Chief Counsel (OCC) are moving locations in December 2011. As part of the move, the Court and ICE OCC will be closed from December 1st until December 6th.
Beginning December 7, 2011, the Court will be located at 525 W. Van Buren Street, Suite 500 Chicago IL 60607. The Court's new...
NIJC would like to remind NIJC pro bono attorneys that when listing a client's address on an immigration application/petition submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, NIJC encourages pro bono attorneys to use a safe mailing address for the client's address, rather than the firm's address. In cases involving domestic violence and victims of crimes...
On August 18, 2011, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it would issue agency-wide guidance to ensure that prosecutorial discretion is exercised in a way to ensure that DHS’s resources are used to remove those who pose the greatest risk to public safety.
Please see NIJC's recent...
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the American Immigration Council’s Legal Action Center, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, are undertaking a nationwide effort to gather information about the erroneous stopping of the employment authorization document (EAD) asylum clock. If you have a case where the Asylum Officer or Immigration...
On June 17, 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an en banc decision regarding whether an asylum applicant can be required to provide corroborating evidence to establish he filed for asylum within one year of arriving to the United States. More information about the decision can be found in...
On June 9, 2011, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) issued a precedential decision, Matter of N-M-, 25 I&N Dec. 526 (BIA 2011), regarding asylum claims based on opposition to state corruption and the “one central reason” standard for establishing the nexus between such opposition and the...
On May 24, 2011, the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) filed an amicus brief with the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) in the case of a young woman from Guatemala who fears persecution there because she is a woman and there is an extremely...
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