Archive for December 2018
Judge strikes down efforts to diminish protections for asylum seekers.
ASISTA applauds the federal court decision yesterday which restores critical protections for asylum seekers fleeing domestic violence and gang brutality. The Center for Gender and Refugee Studies and ACLU challenged the Administration’s harmful expedited removal policies which instructed asylum officers to generally deny domestic violence and gang violence-related claims. ASISTA is proud to have supported the…
Read MoreChallenging USCIS harmful changes to fee waiver policy
In November 2018, ASISTA fought back on harmful USCIS changes to fee waiver practices and forms. USCIS is creating barriers to equal access to survivor protections, especially for survivors who have few financial resources of their own. ASISTA created a template comment for advocates to share how these damaging changes affect survivors, and you can…
Read MoreASISTA opposes DHS Proposed Rule on Public Charge
On December 10, 2018, ASISTA filed a Comment on DHS’ Proposed Rule on Public Charge. DHS’ proposed rule will harm immigrant survivors of domestic and sexual violence as well as survivors of human trafficking. Access and use of public benefit programs may make the difference in whether survivors and their children can escape abuse. ASISTA opposes the…
Read MoreGuardian: How zero tolerance forces undocumented victims into the shadows
ASISTA weighs in on how harmful changes to immigration policy impacts immigrant survivors of violence. Read more here.
Read MoreASISTA Statement on NTA Policy Implementation
ASISTA strongly condemns USCIS’ decision to implement the updated Notice To Appear (NTA) policy for survivor-based protections on November 19th. This means that domestic and sexual assault survivors, survivors of human trafficking, children eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, and other victims whom Congress intended to help could now face deportation hearings if their cases…
Read MorePBS Frontline: Undocumented Crime Victims Face Heightened Risk of Deportation
ASISTA’s own Cecelia Friedman Levin, commenting on USCIS’s recent drastic departure from prior practice and policy, and how it will discourage survivors from coming forward. Read more here.
Read MoreAnnotated Notes: USCIS Q&A on NTA Guidance Implementation
Annotated Notes on NTA Memo Implementation On November 15, 2018, USCIS held a stakeholder engagement call on the implementation of the NTA memo on survivor-based protections. ASISTA, AILA and ILRC compiled these annotated notes and practice pointers based on USCIS’ responses during that stakeholder call.
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