Asylum seekers continue to face legal hurdles in their pursuit of safety here in the U.S., and the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program (HIRC) has been busy working on litigation to protect their rights. Within the first month of 2020, HIRC submitted two amicus briefs regarding immigration and asylum law. The first brief, submitted…
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People sometimes ask what motivates HIRC student advocates to work on immigration cases during our busy law school semesters. The answer is simple: our clients. It is impossible to have a bad day after spending time with the asylum-seekers we represent at HIRC. No one embodies this more than Antonio*, a young man who fled…
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The Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program (HIRC) recently submitted comments urging the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to withdraw their proposed amendments on asylum procedures and bars to asylum, which jeopardize the lives and safety of countless refugees. The proposed rules would add seven categorical bars to asylum, including to…
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Read the stories of four HIRC alumni who are continuing to advocate for the rights of asylum-seekers and immigrants.
The Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program (HIRC) recently filed an amicus brief challenging a Board of Immigration Appeals decision on a gender-based asylum case. In the brief, HIRC argued that gender is a particular social group, writing: “In failing to recognize that Petitioner proposed a cognizable particular social group under Acosta and more recent…
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“How can I help?” Here at HIRC we hear this often, from alumni, community members, colleagues, and everyone in between. As immigrants continue to face legal challenges and human rights abuses at the border and across the country, more and more people across the nation are ready to take a stand to protect the rights…
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On September 23, the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program (HIRC) submitted comments on on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposal of “Designating Aliens for Expedited Removal.” In the comments, HIRC urged DHS to halt the expansion of expedited removal because of serious issues with the system, writing “…multiple reports document DHS officers’ failure…
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Students who work at HIRC come to the Clinic with diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise. For some students, it may be their first time working directly with clients, while for others it might be their first time engaging with immigration law or appearing in court. For Krista Oehlke ’20, that day came in June…
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“Deborah Anker, a professor at Harvard who specializes in asylum, said that what the Trump administration has been doing on asylum policy reflects ‘the dismantling of the whole refugee protection system that was established after World War II.’”
Last week, the Clinic and five other groups filed a request to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, demanding that they investigate the Mexican government’s complicity in the illegal practice of “metering,” under which thousands of individuals seeking asylum in the United States are forced to wait for prolonged periods in limbo in Mexico. This…
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