Humanitarian Protection

The United States has long-been a beacon of hope for individuals around the world seeking protection and refuge. Our immigration policies must continue to protect those who need it. Learn more about how America can continue to provide humanitarian protection to those in times of crisis.

All Humanitarian Protection Content

  • Blog

Attorney General Rescinds Two Trump Decisions, Restoring Protection to Many Asylum Seekers

June 17, 2021

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on June 16 that he is restoring a vital lifeline to survivors of gender-based violence, gang violence, and violence on account of family relationships....

  • Blog

Biden Signals Big Changes to Legal Immigration and Asylum Law with Spring Regulatory Agenda

June 16, 2021

Twice each year, the federal government publishes a “regulatory agenda,” a preview of all the proposals that are in the pipeline to become federal regulations. Last week, the Biden administration...

  • Blog

Collecting DNA From Asylum Seekers at the Border Raises Privacy Concerns

June 10, 2021

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is collecting DNA from asylum seekers at the border, recent media reports confirm. This is the latest expansion of DNA collection as part of a program initiated...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Denies TPS Holders a Chance at Permanent Status

June 8, 2021

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled this week in Sanchez v. Mayorkas that people with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) who entered the United States unlawfully are ineligible to...

  • Blog

New ‘Dedicated Docket’ Could Rush Asylum-Seeking Families Through Court

June 3, 2021

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)  and the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on May 28 the creation of a new “Dedicated Docket” in immigration court for the claims of asylum-seeking...

  • Blog

Biden Administration Begins Reuniting the First of Thousands of Migrant Families Still Separated

May 5, 2021

Four families separated under the Trump administration will be reunited this week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced. They will be the first families to be reunited thanks to the...

  • Blog

Sinema and Cornyn Propose Changes to Asylum Processing at the Border

April 28, 2021

The current situation at the U.S.-Mexico border has once again exposed the flaws of our country’s asylum system. On April 22, Senators Kyrsten Sinema and John Cornyn and Representatives Tony...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Considers the Future for Thousands of People With TPS

April 21, 2021

The U.S. Supreme Court heard argument this week on the question of whether certain people with Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and who have developed strong connections with their communities...

  • Blog

Biden’s Commitment to Refugees in Question After Flip-Flopping on Admissions Cap

April 16, 2021

Throughout his presidential campaign and after the election, Joe Biden repeatedly condemned President Trump’s decision to slash the U.S. refugee admissions level to its lowest in history. He ...

  • Blog

How the Biden Administration Is Responding to Unaccompanied Children, Families, and Adults at the Border

April 8, 2021

Only days after President Biden took office, some people were already declaring that the border was in a state of crisis. But recently released U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics reveal...

  • Blog

A Groundswell of Opposition to Biden’s Asylum Transit Ban

April 6, 2023

The public has spoken: an asylum transit ban was bad policy during the Trump era, and it’s bad policy now. On February 21, the Biden administration released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking laying...

  • Blog

Deadly Detention Center Fire Is a Reminder: Both the US and Mexico Are Failing Migrants

March 29, 2023

On Monday night, 39 migrants died, and another 27 were seriously injured, in a fire in a Mexican detention center in Ciudad Juarez. The migrants—most of them from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras...

  • Blog

US and Canada Expand Safe Third Country Agreement in Another Move to Limit Asylum

March 29, 2023

The United States and Canada announced the expansion of their Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) last week during President Biden’s visit to Canada. Under U.S. law, a so-called “Safe Third...

  • Press Release

Advocates Release FOIA Data, Seek Transparency for Thousands of Afghans Seeking Humanitarian Parole and the Extensive Delays They Are Facing

March 16, 2023
The American Immigration Council and International Refugee Assistance Project released government records documenting the extensive delays experienced by thousands of Afghans who filed for humanitarian parole since the United States’ chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
  • FOIA

Agency Failures Make Obtaining Humanitarian Parole Almost Impossible for Afghans

Records show how the USCIS’s response to the high volume of humanitarian parole applications contributed to the massive delays faced by Afghans.
  • Blog

Ukrainians Get a Temporary Reprieve Instead of a Permanent Fix

March 15, 2023

The Biden administration announced on Monday that it would grant another year of temporary legal status for some Ukrainians who fled the Russian invasion for the United States before April 25,...

  • Blog

CBP One Is Riddled With Flaws That Make the App Inaccessible to Many Asylum Seekers  

February 28, 2023

In January and February of this year, the Biden administration announced new policies to process individuals seeking asylum at ports of entry at the U.S.-Mexico border. A key component of these...

  • Blog

Biden Wants to End Exploitation of Migrant Children, But His New Asylum Policy Could Make It Worse

February 27, 2023

The New York Times has published a horrifying investigation into the exploitation of children who migrated to the United States as unaccompanied minors. The investigation by Hannah Dreier finds...

  • Blog

How To Seek Asylum (Under Biden’s Proposed Asylum Transit Ban), In 12 Not-At-All-Easy Steps

February 22, 2023

The Biden administration recently announced a proposed regulation that would all but eliminate access to asylum for the overwhelming number of asylum seekers who come to the United States via the...

  • Press Release

Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security Release Details of Dangerous New Asylum Transit Ban

February 21, 2023
The American Immigration Council responds to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on the implementation of a new asylum transit ban.

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