Regional Focus: United States - Pt. 1

News:

1. The Trump administration's assaults on asylum and immigration continue unabated... . My last US post provided an update regarding the proposed rule published on 15 June 2020 which many see as an attempt to decimate the asylum system. The newest proposed rule, "Security Bars and Processing," published on 9 July 2020, seeks to ban people from seeking asylum if they are deemed to be a risk for spreading infectious diseases such as the coronavirus.

Both proposals have a 30-day comment period. The first ends on 15 July 2020, while the second ends on 10 August 2020. Here are some resources for submitting comments for the former:
- Asylum Seekers Have Power! Here’s How You Can Help Save Asylum (The Asylumist Blog) [text]
- Resources to Push Back on Proposed Rule to Gut Asylum (Interfaith Immigration Coalition) [access]
- Speak Up to Save Asylum! (Center for Gender & Refugee Studies) [access]

Here is related commentary/examples of submitted comments on both proposals:

The Administration is Weaponizing COVID-19 to End Immigration (Think Immigration Blog, July 2020) [text]

"Asylum Officers Condemn What They Call ‘Draconian’ Plans by Trump," New York Times, 15 July 2020 [text]

Comment on Proposed Changes to Procedures for Asylum and Withholding of Removal; Credible Fear and Reasonable Fear (Human Rights Watch, July 2020) [text]

Let’s Deny Asylum to Sick People! (The Asylumist Blog, July 2020) [text]

My Comment on Proposed Draconian Changes to Asylum Regulations – Do You Have One Too? (Insightful Immigration Blog, July 2020) [text]

Rethinking Refugee Eligibility: Challenging Stereotypes and Reviving the ‘Benefit of the Doubt’ for Asylum Seekers (Rethinking Refuge, July 2020) [text]

Statement by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on U.S. Asylum Changes (UNHCR, July 2020) [text]

Trump Administration Expands Public Health Pretext to Block Asylum-Seekers (Human Rights First, July 2020) [text]

"Trump Ended Asylum at the Border Indefinitely. But Apparently That’s Not Enough," Mother Jones, 11 June 2020 [text]

Undoing Asylum (ImmigrationProf Blog, July 2020) [text]

"Will COVID-19 Halt Asylum in the United States for Good?," The New Humanitarian, 9 July 2020 [text]

2. In addition, just days before the latest asylum ban was announced, ICE issued new guidelines stipulating that international students enrolled in US universities face deportation if their fall courses are exclusively online. Harvard and MIT subsequently filed a lawsuit. More info is here:

Guidance for Fall 2020 Semester for International Students (AILA, July 2020) [access]

ICE Says International Students Must Take Classes in Person or Leave the Country (Immigration Impact Blog, July 2020) [text]

International Students and Remote Learning in Fall 2020: What You Need To Know (Penn State Law, July 2020) [text]

"Trump is Trying to Kick out Foreign Students Amid the Pandemic," Vox, 8 July 2020 [text]

Opportunity:

CFP: "Outsourced Borders and Invisible Walls," Session at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools, San Francisco, 5-9 January 2021 [info]
- Submission deadline is 15 August 2020.

Blog posts & press:

"Appeals Court Rules Refugees Need not be Denied Asylum in Mexico Before Applying in US," Jurist News, 8 July 2020 [text]
- Refers to East Bay Sanctuary Covenant v. Barr.

"Biden Inches Leftward on Immigration," Marshall Project, 9 July 2020 [text]

"The Danger of America’s Coronavirus Immigration Bans," The Atlantic, 28 June 2020 [text]

"The Immigration System is Set to Come to a Near Halt, and No One is Paying Attention," BuzzFeed News, 30 June 2020 [text]
- Discusses funding for USCIS.

More Americans Want to Increase Immigration Than Reduce It (CATO at Liberty, July 2020) [text]

The Second Trump Asylum Ban Has Been Defeated in Court (Human Rights First, July 2020) [text]
- Refers to "CAIR Coalition et al. v. Trump."

The Supreme Court Rules Against Judicial Review of Expedited Removal (Lawfare Blog, July 2020) [text]
-  Refers to Department of Homeland Security v. Thuraissigiam. See also related analysis in Jeffrey S. Chase blog and CRS report.


Related posts:
- Thematic Focus: Work/Economic Aspects - Pt. 2 (US) (26 June 2020)
- Regional Focus: United States - Pt. 1 (24 June 2020)
- Regional Focus: United States - Pt. 2 (24 June 2020)