This post was written by summer intern Antonella Portugal. Antonella is a rising senior at Brown University with a double concentration in Political Science and Public Policy. While much of the country has resumed business as usual, COVID-19 cases keep rising. The conditions in immigration detention centers have been criticized by advocates and government officials alike…
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(En español abajo) This post was written by HIRC summer intern Alma Martinez Ramirez. She is a rising senior at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities with a Major in Political Science and a double minor in Philosophy and Public Health. On November 12, 2019, the U.S Supreme Court heard oral arguments regarding the Trump…
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We are thrilled to announce that Mariam Liberles will be joining the team at the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program (HIRC) as a staff attorney. Prior to joining HIRC, Mariam worked for nine years at Catholic Charities of Boston as a supervising attorney (2014-2020) and a staff attorney (2011-2014). At Catholic Charities, Mariam represented…
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HIRC Director Sabi Ardalan breaks down the many issues with the new proposed rule on asylum.
Today, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals released a favorable decision in the case of Mario Ordonez Azmen, an asylum-seeker from Guatemala who was represented by HIRC Albert M. Sacks Clinical Teaching & Advocacy Fellow Zachary Albun. Stacy Taeuber and Benjamin Casper Sanchez of the Federal Immigration & Litigation Clinic at the University of Minnesota Law School, and Chuck Roth of the…
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On June 15, the Trump administration proposed regulations that attempt to eviscerate the asylum system, making it nearly impossible for people fleeing persecution to be granted humanitarian relief in the United States. These regulations radically depart from the statutory and internationally accepted refugee definition and impose new bars to asylum. The regulations would also worsen…
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Today, the Trump administration released a new proposed rule that would ban those seeking asylum due to “public health concerns.” We at the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program are deeply troubled by this latest attempt to deny asylum seekers their right to seek safety in the United States. The proposed rule aims to block asylum in…
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On July 6th, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced new guidance regarding F-1 and M-1 student visas, modifying exemptions put in place this spring that had allowed students to take classes online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the new policy, international students who attend schools that are operating entirely online may not be allowed to remain in the United States. On July 8th, the University filed a lawsuit to protect the…
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HIRC Founder Deborah Anker joined Gerald L. Neuman, Co-Director of the HLS Human Rights Program, and other immigration and refugee scholars in submitting an amicus brief that challenges the Trump administration’s restriction of asylum procedures during the COVID-19 crisis.
On June 30th, a federal court judge ruled against the Trump administration’s “third country asylum rule,” which unlawfully required people to apply for asylum in “safe” third countries they passed through before seeking protection in the United States. In his decision, Judge Timothy Kelly wrote: “[the Court] holds that Defendants unlawfully promulgated the rule without complying with the APA’s…
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