The Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program (HIRC) is deeply disappointed by today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision on Department of Homeland Security v. Thuraissigiam, which will fast-track deportations of certain asylum-seekers. HIRC had previously submitted an amicus brief in this case. We echo the words of ACLU attorney Lee Geherent, who argued the case before the…
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The Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program (HIRC) strongly opposes the Trump administration’s proposed regulations on asylum, which were announced on June 10, 2020. These sweeping regulatory changes would undermine critical legal protections for immigrants fleeing persecution and torture. In its proposal, the administration admits that “the proposed changes are likely to result in few…
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HIRC Director Sabi Ardalan and Dr. Katherine Peeler of Physicians for Human Rights recently collaborated on this post on domestic violence survivors and asylum.
HIRC Director Sabi Ardalan recently published a post on the Andrew & Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law’s COVID-19 Watch Hub.
While many businesses and institutions across the country have temporarily closed due to COVID-19, students, staff, and attorneys at the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program (HIRC) have continued to work with clients throughout the pandemic. Since all work has moved remote, HIRC has had to adapt to new restrictions and rules in order to…
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HIRC Founder Deborah Anker’s article “The History and Future of Gender Asylum Law and Recognition of Domestic Violence as a Basis for Protection in the United States” was published in the latest issue of the American Bar Association’s Human Rights Magazine.
Years of Advocacy by HIRC Culminate in Landmark Decision by First Circuit In a major development in U.S. asylum law, a federal appeals court Friday recognized gender as a legal basis for granting asylum, making it possible for the petitioner in this case, and many other women fleeing violence in their home countries, to find…
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The Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program (HIRC) joined over 100 legal, faith-based, humanitarian, human rights and community organizations in signing on to a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC), which urges DHS to immediately stop the expulsion of asylum-seekers. The letter raises deep concerns over…
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Recently, our HIRC at GBLS team, including Co-Managing Directors Nancy Kelly and John Willshire-Carrera and former Albert M. Sacks Clinical Teaching & Advocacy Fellow Maggie Morgan, had a victory in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Their client, a woman from Honduras, had previously filed a motion to reopen, which was denied by an Immigration…
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As COVID-19 continues to spread, more and more people are feeling the impacts of this pandemic. Detainees face particularly grave health risks and HIRC is working tirelessly to advocate for the release of all immigrants in detention. Recently, HIRC attorneys and students submitted a number of habeas petitions on behalf of clients who are currently…
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