October 16, 2021

Asylum Seekers

Migrants seeking asylum in the United States are seen in the Juventud 2000 migrant shelter in Tijuana on March 5th, 2019.
Key Takeaways

Persecution Based on Family Ties Will No Longer Qualify as Grounds for Asylum, the Attorney General Rules

The decision could affect thousands of asylum seekers fleeing violence, particularly from Central America.

Immigrants walk to U.S. Homeland Security buses to be transferred to a U.S. Border Patrol facility in McAllen after crossing from Mexico on July 2nd, 2019, in Los Ebanos, Texas.
From the Archives

Immigration Courts Are Replacing Interpreters With Orientation Videos

The new measure is intended to reduce costs and accelerate proceedings, but even immigration judges are questioning it.

President Donald Trump takes part in the Third Annual Made in America Product Showcase on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 15th, 2019.
News in Brief

Can Mexico Qualify as a Safe Third Country?

In 1994, attorney Susan Gzesh wrote in a report that Mexico was not a safe third country. Has anything changed?

Migrants and residents use a makeshift raft to illegally cross the Suchiate river, from Tecun Uman, in Guatemala, to Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, on June 14th, 2019.
News in Brief

Is Trump Planning to Use Guatemala as a Wall?

Trump will meet with Guatemala's president next week, and a "safe third country" agreement is reportedly on the table.

Immigrants wait to be transported to a U.S. Border Patrol processing center after they were taken into custody on July 2nd, 2019, in McAllen, Texas. The immigrants, mostly families from Central America, turned themselves in to border agents after rafting across the Rio Grande from Mexico to seek political asylum in the United States.
News in Brief

Why Did Border Patrol Arrest Fewer People in June?

New arrest numbers highlight the difficulties experts encounter in interpreting migration patterns.

Migrants walk after crossing the border between the U.S. and Mexico at the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas, on June 27th, 2019. This is an area where asylum seekers frequently turn themselves in after crossing the border.
News in Brief

What Will Happen If Trump Speeds Up the Asylum Process?

Officials say the new plan is built to address backlog issues. But advocates say it will result in fewer people getting asylum.

People walk back to Tijuana from San Diego at San Ysidro crossing port in Tijuana, Mexico, on April 2nd, 2019.
Key Takeaways

Asylum Seekers Report Being Victims of Violence While Waiting in Mexico

The "Remain in Mexico" plan promised humanitarian visas and work permits. But asylum seekers are being sent back to dangerous living conditions.

Border Illustrations Diptych
Social Justice

The Definition of 'Refugee' Is Out of Date. And It's Leaving People Behind.

The international idea of who counts as a refugee is over half a century old. But today the lines between "refugee," "migrant," and "illegal border crosser" have all begun to blur.

Salvadorean migrants heading in a caravan to the U.S. cross the Suchiate River to Mexico, as seen from Ciudad Tecun Uman, Guatemala, on November 2nd, 2018.
Social Justice

Why Cutting Off Aid to Central American Countries Won't Curb Migration to the U.S.

Slashing aid is counterproductive because foreign assistance can address the root causes of migration, such as violence and poverty, argues one expert.

During one of James Pearce's 2016 visits to the Calais Jungle, a refugee member of PC4R recognized him from far away, greeted him warmly, and invited him to share a meal.
News in Brief

World Refugee Day: An Essential Reading List

We've collected highlights from our coverage of displaced people around the world.

A protester holds a sign during a demonstration outside of the James R. Browning United States Courthouse on June 11th, 2019, in San Francisco, California. Dozens of activists staged a demonstration in support of restoring protections for asylum seekers.
Viewfinder

Viewfinder: Activists Rally in San Francisco in Support of Protections for Asylum Seekers

A protester holds a sign during a demonstration outside of the James R. Browning United States Courthouse on June 11th, 2019, in San Francisco, California.

Migrant children from different Latin American wait to receive food at the Casa del Refugiado, or The House of Refugee, in El Paso, Texas, on April 24th, 2019.
Social Justice

Trump Will Cut Classes and Recreation for Unaccompanied Migrant Children

A former Obama administration official says that canceling classes hurts children's mental health and could also make it harder to catch physical health issues.

Francisco Olachea, who's known as Pancho or Panchito in the community, uses an old ambulance as his mobile health-care station, transporting medical supplies to refugee shelters where families are waiting with their asylum numbers.
Social Justice

'Come and See Me—My Grave Is Open': Finding Life After Deportation in Nogales, Sonora

Panchito Olachea crossed the border into the U.S. at 16, and was deported at 48. He's now building a community of deportees who, like him, won't try to cross back.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin speak with then-President-elect of Mexico Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in July of 2018.
Synthesizing the News

The U.S. Is Using the Tariff Threat to Push Mexico to Accept Most Asylum Seekers

The Trump team is working on a "safe third country" agreement with Mexico, which would make migrants who travel through Mexico ineligible for asylum in the United States.

Migrants wait to have their number on a waiting list called to have an initial interview with an asylum officer on June 5th, 2019, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
News in Brief

The Trump Administration Is Hiding How It Decides Asylum Cases, Advocates Say

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says everything is available online. How did such a major misunderstanding happen?