Through requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and litigation, the Tahirih Justice Center and the American Immigration Council have successfully uncovered a number of documents providing insight into […]

When Tahirih launched our Afghan Asylum Project in August 2021, we knew it would be a massive undertaking that would require a lot of support from our staff and our […]

On April 7, Tahirih and pro bono counsel Orrick filed a lawsuit against USCIS for its failure to timely process asylum applications. The seventeen Tahirih clients who are plaintiffs in the litigation filed their applications at least five years ago and continue to await adjudication, despite the completion of many later-filed applications. Delays in asylum adjudication compound the stress and hardship of survivors, and Tahirih and Orrick look forward to vindicating the rights of these survivors to timely adjudication of their meritorious claims for relief.

Last week, the U.S. and Canadian governments expanded their 2002 “safe third country” agreement to allow both countries to expel vulnerable people seeking asylum who have crossed the countries’ shared border in between ports of entry. The expansion of the deal was negotiated in secret a year ago and became effective just three days after its announcement on March 25.

The Tahirih Justice Center submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Justice in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Circumvention of Lawful Pathways

BACKGROUND  On February 23, the Department of Homeland Security formally issued a proposed rule that would make most people seeking safety at the southern U.S. land border ineligible for asylum. […]

Today, the Department of Homeland Security issued a proposed rule that would drastically limit eligibility for asylum for many people seeking safety at our Southern border. Under these new regulations, a person seeking asylum at a U.S. port of entry on the Southern border who does not have an appointment or traveled through another country without applying for protection there first will be considered ineligible for asylum here – with few exceptions. This asylum ban cuts off a critical path to safety for survivors and sends them back to dangerous conditions where they often face further violence and trauma.