TAKE ACTION: Preserve Asylum Protections for Survivors

- October 2020 -

Providing asylum is both a legal obligation and a moral one. Yet this year alone, numerous policies and actions from the Administration have undermined asylum protections in the United States.

On September 23, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a proposed rule that continues this harmful trend. The proposed rule would make it significantly harder for traumatized immigrants who flee from persecution in their home countries, including survivors of gender-based violence, to seek asylum protection in the U.S.

VOICE YOUR OPPOSITION TODAY! The DOJ rule is currently a proposal and not yet in effect, and the public has until 11:59 pm EDT on Friday, October 23rd to submit comments. Join with AIS to lift your voice and reveal the harmful impact this proposed rule will have on survivors of gender-based violence.

Thank you for supporting immigrant survivors!

WHAT WOULD THE PROPOSED RULE DO?

The proposed rule would create enormous barriers to protection for many survivors of gender-based abuse who require time and safety to address their trauma, who often fled with little more than the clothing on their backs, who do not have access to counsel, and/or who are of limited English proficiency.

Specifically, the rule would:

  • Require asylum seekers to file their asylum application within 15 days of their first master calendar hearing (which is when deportation proceedings usually begin),

  • Require immigration judges to reject any application for asylum that has a blank space(s) (even if the space left blank is entirely immaterial or reflects that the applicant had no answer to give, such as a middle name) or if an asylum applicant cannot pay the $50 filing fee,

  • Set a 30-day deadline for applicants to make corrections to a rejected application or resubmit the application with the $50 fee,

  • Require immigration judges to adjudicate asylum applications within 180 days of filing and limit their ability to extend deadlines beyond the 180 days, and

  • Make changes regarding the submission and consideration of evidence:

    • allows immigration judges to submit evidence and consider that evidence,

    • broadens the scope of U.S. government agencies to submit evidence, and

    • limit consideration of evidence from non-governmental sources (such as if an applicant provides information of their home country’s conditions)

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR COMMENT & COMMENT TEMPLATES

AIS and our partners have developed sample comment templates for you to use to draft your unique comment in opposition to the proposal. The administration is required by law to review and respond to every unique public comment they receive about the proposed regulation, so we strongly encourage you to personalize and modify the template to speak to your own experiences and perspective, as well as those of the survivors with whom you work.

  1. Download sample comment templates or visit click-to-comment sites:

  2. Edit comments as you wish to personalize them and make them unique to your organization’s mission and work. Some commenting tips:

    • The administration requires that all comments be submitted in English.

    • Ideally, your comments explain how this rule change will harm immigrant survivors, which could include you, your family, your clients, or your community.

    • If you do not want to include any personal information, a friend or representative can submit a comment for you.

  3. Submit your comments at this link by clicking on the blue “Comment Now!” button and uploading a pdf, which is what we strongly recommend to avoid loss of formatting,  particularly to preserve links to supporting materials that can be important to build a strong case against the rule.

  4. Contact us at info@immigrantsurvivors.org if you have any questions or problems.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & RESOURCES

ORGANIZATIONAL COMMENTS