On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that it would no longer expel unaccompanied minors under Title 42, a public health policy that has led to the expulsion of thousands of asylum-seekers. Our Program has spoken out against the use of Title 42 since it was first enacted in March 2020 at…
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During this year’s Black History Month, our Program joins organizations and individuals across the country in uplifting the Black Immigrant Advocacy Day of Action on Thursday, February 17th. This day of action aims to celebrate the leadership of Black immigrants as they fight to expose and eradicate racism in the U.S. immigration system. There are…
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Program Founder Deborah Anker and Program Director Sabi Ardalan advocate for restoring gender-based asylum law in this blog post for the Harvard Law Review.
On October 29th, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas issued a memorandum announcing the termination of the so-called Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program. We applaud the end of this inhumane policy, which, despite its name, fails to protect asylum seekers and, instead, has led to devastating harm to individuals who are seeking safety in the United…
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On October 19th, our Program, in collaboration with the HLS Immigration Project and the Immigration Coalition of the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, submitted comments on a proposed rule regarding asylum procedures and credible fear screenings. While the proposed rule claims to “streamline” the asylum process, we believe that it would instead undermine asylum seekers’ due process rights…
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Our Program signed on to a complaint regarding the conduct of DHS agents at the US/Mexico border in Del Rio, Texas.
On September 2nd, a federal judge ruled that the U.S. government’s practice of turning away asylum seekers at ports of entry is unconstitutional. This ruling indicates that the U.S. is required by law to inspect and process asylum seekers when they present themselves at ports of entry and condemns the practice of metering, which denies migrants…
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In June 2021, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the decision in Matter of K-S-E-, in which the Board of Immigration Appeals had ruled that Kesly Sylvestre, a Haitian man, was “firmly resettled” in Brazil and that the Haitian government was able and willing to control his persecutors. Mr. Sylvestre was represented by our…
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Our Program recently joined Human Rights First and over 100 other organizations from across the country in submitting a letter to President Biden regarding his administration’s reported plans to continue to use the Title 42 expulsion policy. Under this policy, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has banned individuals from entering the…
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Yesterday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland vacated Matter of A-B- I & II and Matter of L-E-A- II, three controversial, precedent decisions that resulted in denials of protection to countless refugees, in particular those fleeing gender-based or gang violence. We at the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program applaud Attorney General Garland for taking action…
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