WHAT IS ASYLUM?
Asylum is a protection and status granted to foreign nationals who fit the criteria of a refugee as defined by international law.
Once granted, asylum status allows that person to live and work in this country and apply for a green card after one year of residence.
HOW DO YOU GET ASYLUM?
Many people apply for asylum when they first arrive at the U.S. border – where it is legal to seek the protected status.
People already living in the country may also be able to successfully pursue asylum after their arrival – typically if they apply within one year of arrival.
People are considered eligible for asylum when they are unable or unwilling to return to his or her home country because they can’t obtain protection in that country due to past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution based on their ‘race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion,’ according to the Refugee Act of 1980.
IS THE MEXICAN BORDER ANY DIFFERENT?
Trump said that he will only accept asylum applications from people who have crossed at legal crossing points on the Mexican border.
It is unclear if he can do this and it will likely be for courts to decide if that is possible.
In theory his powers are at their apex at the border and the government can reject anyone trying to enter.
But asylum is covered by international treaties enacted into U.S. laws which do not contain limits on where it is possible to claim asylum. So he is likely to face
HOW THE PROCESS WORKS
Applying for asylum can take years. In order to pursue a claim, immigrants must first pass a test known as the credible fear review before they are allowed to make their case before an immigration judge.
That review allows them to say why they are fleeing their country and establishes whether they have a legitimate fear of persecution or torture. Individuals who don’t pass the credible fear review can request a hearing to reconsider their plea, but many are quickly deported to their home countries.
In 2017, 60,566 people were found to have credible fear – meaning their cases could go to a full court hearing.
That year, 28,408 asylum cases reached a final decision in U.S. immigration courts. Of those, 10,697 applications were granted and the remaining 17,711 applicants were denied and slated for deportation. But how many leave voluntarily, and how many are deported is not clear. Immigration and Customs Enforcement do not publish a number of failed asylum seekers it has removed.
HOW IT’S CHANGED ALREADY UNDER TRUMP
It has gotten got harder to gain credible fear status under the Trump administration: in June, Attorney General Jeff Sessions made a decision that reversed previous guidelines that domestic violence and gangs were reasons to have ‘credible fear’ – which means that anyone now claiming asylum has a higher bar to cross.
The Trump administration has said that to be applied correctly, asylum must be granted to people who are seeking to escape persecution by a government – not from a violent family member or gang, as had widely been accepted after a 2014 immigration court ruling found those applicants were eligible for asylum.
While some legal experts believe it is still possible to argue cases on behalf of the immigrants affected by Sessions’ decision, that will be impossible if they don’t make it past their credible fear review.