Re-setting Gender-Based Asylum Law
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.
AG Garland vacates Matter A-B- I & II and Matter of L-E-A II
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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Refugee Eligibility: Challenging Stereotypes and Reviving the ‘Benefit of the Doubt’
HIRC Director Sabi Ardalan breaks down the many issues with the new proposed rule on asylum.
New regulations could dismantle the U.S. asylum system – please take action!
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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The History and Future of Gender Asylum Law and Recognition of Domestic Violence as a Basis for Protection in the United States
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.
Federal Court Recognizes Gender as Basis for Asylum Claims
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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HIRC at GBLS has Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals victory
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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HIRC files amicus brief on gender-based asylum case
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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Ask a Feminist: Deborah Anker Discusses Gender and US Asylum Law with Aziza Ahmed
Check out this conversation between HIRC Founder & Director Deborah Anker and Aziza Ahmed that was aired on the podcast “Ask a Feminist.”
Recent case victories from HIRC at GBLS
Since the beginning, HIRC has partnered with Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS), the largest provider of free legal services in Massachusetts. GBLS is also the site of the HIRC at GBLS side of the Clinic. Here are just a few of the many victories won by HIRC at GBLS over the past year: HIRC at…
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