The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 and Asylum
The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 is finally here. It was unveiled last week by Senator Bob Menendez and Representative […]…
Dzubow & Pilcher, PLLC
The Asylumist is a blog about political asylum in the United States. We hope it will serve as a forum for discussion about the law, policy, and politics of asylum. We hope to hear from different people involved in the asylum process: asylum seekers, lawyers and advocates, academics, policy-types, health professionals, and activists. We hope this website contributes to a better understanding of the asylum system in the United States.
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Latest from Dzubow & Pilcher, PLLC
Fixing Asylum Part 5: Benefits
By Jason Dzubow
There are different types of benefits available to people seeking asylum and people who have been granted asylum. Here we […]…
President Biden’s Executive Orders on Immigration
By Jason Dzubow
Last week, President Biden issued several Executive Orders (EOs) related to immigration. Here, we’ll review the new EOs and discuss […]…
Torture Survivors Seeking Asylum Must be a Priority in Immigration Overhaul
By Jason Dzubow
This post is by Andrea Barron, the Advocacy Program Manager at the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition (TASSC International), […]…
President Biden’s Immigration Bill
By Jason Dzubow
As you’ve probably heard, President Biden has proposed a comprehensive immigration reform bill, called the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021. […]…
Teshuvah and the New Administration
By Jason Dzubow
There’s a concept in Judaism known as “teshuvah,” which means “returning.” The term implies a return to righteousness, and repenting for past sins. In Judaism, when we think of teshuvah during Rosh HaShana (the New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), we think in terms of collective sin: We ask G-d to forgive us for the sins “we” committed, even if we did not personally commit those sins. We also pledge to right…
Fixing Asylum Part 4: Immigration Court
By Jason Dzubow
There are currently over 1.2 million cases pending before our nation’s Immigration Courts (how many of these cases involve asylum, we do not know). The average wait time for a case is 849 days. What has caused this large backlog, and what can be done to alleviate the long waits in Immigration Court?
There are a number of reasons for the Immigration Court backlog. As with the Asylum Office, the basic reason is that…
Fixing Asylum Part 3: The Asylum Office
By Jason Dzubow
According to the most recent data, as of “July 31, 2020, USCIS had 370,948 asylum applications, on behalf of 589,187 aliens, pending final adjudication.” “Over 94% of these pending applications [about 348,691 cases] are awaiting an interview by an asylum officer.” The remaining cases–approximately 22,257–have been interviewed and are waiting for a decision.
In terms of resources, the most recent information I could find is from May 2019. At that time, there were 763…
Fixing Asylum Part 2: USCIS Forms
By Jason Dzubow
Here’s a point that should be self-evidence, but isn’t: Bureaucracy exists to facilitate the implementation of the law. Congress passes a law, and then government agencies create a system of policies and procedures to put that law into effect. In principle, this system should be easy to use and efficient, and should allow people to obtain the benefits to which they are entitled. In other words, it should be the exact opposite of what we…
USCIS Receipt Delays – An Update
By Jason Dzubow
If you’ve filed an application or petition with USCIS lately, you’ve probably noticed that receipts have been substantially delayed. Many people are waiting six, seven, eight weeks or more for receipts. Below is an announcement from USCIS about the delays at their Lockbox facilities, along with some tips about filing. Hopefully, once we have new leadership at the agency, we will start to see some improvement. Also, of course, if we turn the corner on…