In 2016, our client, a citizen of Jordan, entered the US on a visitor visa for personal travel. Shortly afterward, he applied for asylum. During the waiting period of the asylum application, our client united in marriage with a US citizen, and Chief Paralegal Connie Cook of Herman Legal Group assisted with filing for a marriage green card application concurrently with closing the asylum case.
By the time his term of office ends on January 20, 2021, Donald Trump will have reduced immigration to the United States by more than half. He has managed to accomplish all of this through executive order and regulatory changes, without any change in statutory law -- and therefore no need for cooperation from Congress. The timing of this decrease in immigration makes it obvious that nowhere near all of it can be attributed to the COVID-19 crisis.
Applying for asylum becomes a bit more complex when you are already facing deportation proceedings. Asylum may be your best removal defense when immigration authorities are trying to eject you from the US but you fear to return to your home country.
This past week, Trump’s administration has made a major push in decreasing the flow of migrants to the US by implementing strict policy changes for asylum seekers targeted at the southern border. The new rule requires that if an immigrant seeking asylum first crosses through a third country prior to reaching the US, he/she must first apply for refugee status in that country.
Asylum is a US immigration status that is based on humanitarian concerns for people who have good reason to fear that harm will come to them if they return to their home countries. If you receive it, you will be allowed you to live and work in the US for an indefinite period of time. Asylum is granted only to people who are present in the US, however. If you are located abroad, you should apply for refugee status, which offers equivalent benefits.
