UNHCR welcomes US decision to restore protections from gang and domestic violence UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes the U.S. government’s decision announced 16 June to reverse legal rulings introduced several years ago that effectively made people forced to flee life-threatening domestic and gang violence in their home countries ineligible from being able to seek safety in the United States.
“These rulings have put the lives of vulnerable people at risk,” said Matthew Reynolds, UNHCR Representative to the United States and the Caribbean, after the U.S. Justice Department announced that the legal rulings known as Matter of A-B- and Matter of L-E-A- had been vacated in their entirety.
“Today’s decisions will give survivors fleeing these types of violence a better chance of finding safety in the United States and being treated with the basic compassion and dignity that every single person deserves. UNHCR welcomes this important humanitarian step,” Reynolds said.
UNHCR, he added, also welcomes the U.S. administration’s commitment to bringing its asylum system into line with international standards and specifically to writing new rules on determining membership of a “particular social group,” one of five grounds spelled out in the 1951 Refugee Convention defining who is entitled to international protection as a refugee.
“In keeping with international standards, a simple and broad definition of ‘particular social group’ is an essential part of a fair and efficient asylum system,” Reynolds said, adding that UNHCR stands ready and willing to support the asylum review and rulemaking process in any way requested by the U.S. government.
ENDS
This Press Release is available here.
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UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency: 70 years protecting people forced to flee.
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The unethical and illegal “bogus precedents” issued by Sessions and Barr have cost lives! Much of the damage done to date is irreparable. So is the continuing damage resulting from the Biden Administration’s failure to reopen ports of entry to legal asylum seekers.
🆘A functioning asylum system at ports of entry, establishing a viable refugee program in or in the region of the Northern Triangle, and a wholly reformed, due process oriented EOIR with real judges who understand how to fairly and efficiently evaluate and grant asylum under the very generous standard enunciated by the BIA in Matter of Mogharrabi but never in fact uniformly applied in practice will reduce the number of individuals crossing the border between ports of entry to seek refuge. We also need the help of NGOs in providing representation to those arriving and resettlement assistance for those “screened in” for hearings.
Right now, we have no legal asylum system at our border despite very clear statutory language commanding it. That’s a BIG problem that must be addressed immediately! Clearly, the Biden Administration must cooperate with and seek help from human rights experts now outside Government including the UNHCR.
As I’ve said before many times, expert human rights leadership needs to be brought into their Biden Administration to “kick some tail,” eradicate incompetence and bias, and fix EOIR and the asylum system.
The NDPA needs to keep the pressure building for more immediate, common sense reforms to our asylum system and a legitimate EOIR of experts who function independently from DHS enforcement and politicos.
🇺🇸⚖️Due Process Forever!
PWS
06-17-21
How is it possible that an agency of the federal government can interpret asylum law–and then receive the Good Housekeeping Seal approval by a majority of the circuit jurisdictions on account of Chevron deference. In my view, this deference is a judicial inventive excuse to delegate the authority to say what the law is–to elected officials. Shame on all of us who accept normalizing terrible “precedent”. The long held view (escape door) via the concept of “plenary” authority over foreign policy (immigration) is nothing but bullshit–that needs to be discarded for ever.
Agree, Nia! The Immigration Courts are unconstitutional and dysfunctional. But, the Article IIIs are also in deep trouble because of a lack of courageous progressive judges who actually believe in due process and equal justice for all under law.
In addition to packing the Immigration Courts with judges of questionable qualifications, Trump stacked the Article IIIs with right wing regressive judges, hand selected by several conservative advocacy groups, a number with glaring lack of judicial temperament or any qualifications for office beyond a record of mindless adherence to right wing dogma and being totally out of touch with the majority of Americans.
I call Chevron/Brand X “Judicial Task Avoidance.” The ONLY job of the Article IIIs is to interpret the law, and they have improperly “delegated” it to Executive Branch officials.
Moreover, EOIR is not an “expert tribunal” — another of the excuses for deference. 42% of new IJ appointments under Trump had no immigration experience, let alone “expertise.” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-trump-court-special-r-idUSKBN2B0179
Disgracefully, Judge Garland continued this totally flawed and inappropriate trend in his first 17 IJ appointments — all “awarded” to those selected by Billy Barr under flawed procedures that intentionally discouraged and undervalued minority applicants and those from the private bar and well as preferring almost any type of government experience to immigration experience gained representing individuals and appearing in Immigration Court.
Yeah, this is the same “Billy Barr” who is on the front pages of the papers every other day as new revelations emerge of how he unethically ran the DOJ as Trump’s personal law firm and avenger. That’s the guy that Garland thought it was a good idea to further empower at the expense of progressive human rights experts who actually helped elect Biden/Harris!
Also, how do you create a new progressive Federal Judiciary to counter four years of Trump when you hand out 17 important positions to yet more Trump selectees? At the rate they are going now, Biden might not have 17 progressives confirmed to the Article IIIs by the end of this year. Yet, that would only make him “even” thanks to the “Garland giveaway.” And, let’s remember he started out over 400 in the hole when you count all of Trump’s Article III and EOIR judicial appointments. No wonder Dems have a hard time governing!
Nor did Sessions and Barr possess any immigration “expertise.” Their participation in quasi-judicial adjudication was a clearly unethical conflict of interest and bias by a decision maker. A mockery of Matthews v. Eldridge. I doubt that any current BIA member would be on a list of “top 100” immigration/human rights experts in America. So, what are they doing on the “Supreme Court of Immigration?” A number of current Appellate Immigration Judges were notorious for their high asylum denial rates and bias toward asylum seekers, particularly women fleeing domestic violence. So, why are they still on the BIA, continuing to cranking out anti-asylum, anti-immigrant, pro-DHS precedents, under Garland?
As currently operating, the EOIR system is blatantly unconstitutional under the 5th Amendment — a denial of a fair and impartial decision makers and in many cases a reasoned decision. Every week, the Circuits return cases to the BIA because of fundamental errors in applying basic immigration rules and regulations. That’s what happens in the “anything goes as long as it’s a denial” culture that Sessions and Barr installed and nurtured at EOIR! It is a serious national disgrace that neither the Article IIIs nor Congress to date have had the integrity and guts to step in an end this ongoing insult to our justice system!
And, while Judge Garland finally did take some long overdue actions this week, he’s been dragging his feet on long overdue, obvious, and necessary reforms and personnel changes at EOIR necessary to restore at lest a semblance of due process, judicial expertise, and judicial independence!
DPF!
PWS😎