Tag Archives: asylum

The New York Times reports: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to revive a Trump administration initiative barring migrants who enter the country illegally from seeking asylum. The court was closely divided, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joining the four-member liberal wing in turning down the administration’s request for a stay of a trial judge’s order blocking the …

NBC News reports: A divided U.S. appeals court late Friday refused to immediately allow the Trump administration to enforce a ban on asylum for any immigrants who illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border. The ban is inconsistent with an existing U.S. law and an attempted end-run around Congress, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a …

Buzzfeed News reports: The Trump administration is considering charging immigrants a fee to apply for asylum protection in the United States, according to sources close to the administration. The proposal, included in a not-yet-finalized draft regulation, would charge applicants, if they are already residing in the US, $50 to apply for asylum. Currently, there is no fee to enter an …

The Associated Press reports: Migrants approaching the U.S. border from Mexico have been enveloped with tear gas after a few tried to breach the fence separating the two countries. U.S. agents shot the gas, according to an Associated Press reporter on the scene. Children were screaming and coughing in the mayhem. U.S. Border Patrol helicopters flew low overhead, while U.S. …

The Washington Post reports: The Trump administration has won the support of Mexico’s incoming government for a plan to remake U.S. border policy by requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims move through U.S. courts, according to Mexican officials and senior members of president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s transition team. The agreement would break with long-standing asylum …

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge barred the Trump administration on Monday from refusing asylum to immigrants who cross the southern border illegally. U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar issued a temporary restraining order after hearing arguments in San Francisco. The request was made by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights, which quickly sued …

The Guardian reports: In 2017, some 2,550 US citizens applied for asylum in Canada – an increase of more than sixfold from 2016 and the largest such number since at least 1994, according to data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Americans were the third largest contingent of asylum seekers in 2017, after Haitians and Nigerians. The vast majority are …

Bloomberg reports: The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging the Trump Administration’s latest attempt to seal the U.S. southern border by stopping undocumented migrants from seeking asylum after they’ve already entered the country. The advocacy group is seeking a court order temporarily preventing the government from restricting asylum applications to those made at official ports of entry. The restrictions will …

“Once again, an administration that claims to be tough on crime is actually just tough on crime victims. Today’s shameful decision by the Attorney General slams the door in the face of women fleeing brutal violence, LGBT refugees fleeing persecution, and thousands of others seeking safety in the United States. America is better than this, but apparently Attorney General Jeff …

Axios reports: Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Monday afternoon that domestic violence and gang violence will no longer serve as sufficient reasons to automatically grant an immigrant asylum. Why it matters: The decision comes as the U.S. faces a significant uptick in asylum claims, and the Trump administration continues to do all it can to cut back on border crossings …

The White House has rejected any quota for LGBT Syrian refugees but says their asylum requests will get priority attention due to their status as a persecuted minority. Stand by for Teabagistan to completely lose their shit. Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: White House Press Josh Earnest explained the administration’s position in response to a question from the …

Dutch News reports: Five gay asylum seekers in Amsterdam have been moved to a new location after they were spat on and attacked by other people in their refugee centre, the Parool says on Friday. The five – three from Syria, one from Iran and one from Iraq – have been moved to a house owned by housing corporation Rochdale. …

The Ottawa Citizen reports: Gay men will be among the Syrian refugees the government is willing to bring to Canada under a plan that will otherwise welcome primarily women, children and families. Security concerns over extremists potentially slipping in to Canada mean the Liberal government will likely exclude unaccompanied males from its planned resettlement of thousands of refugees. But the …

Via Newsweek: The Court of Justice of the European Union, which interprets EU law to ensure that it is equally applied in all EU countries, today ruled that refugees who claim asylum based on their homosexuality should not have to undergo invasive tests to prove it, including detailed questioning on their sexual habits. The Luxembourg-based court said that determining a …

Details from the Associated Press.

GEHO Uganda has issued an urgent appeal for financial assistance in helping a Ugandan HIV/AIDS volunteer flee her country. The woman is currently in hiding and is being sought by police after being accused of violating Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act through her work. Details: On April 11, the Gender-Equality and Health Organisation (GEHO) Uganda, a community-based organization in Jinja, Eastern Uganda, …

A fascinating story from Vocativ: For years, Iranians have crossed into neighboring Turkey to escape persecution for being gay. Once over the border and beyond the reach of Iran’s hard-line religious laws, they transform from bankers, engineers, students and artists into refugees, making their case for asylum abroad. Those who have successfully made it to North America, Europe or Australia, …

Via the Herald Scotland: Scotland is to offer asylum to Ugandans facing persecution under the country’s oppressive new legislation against its gay population. Humza Yousaf, Minister For External Affairs, has written to UK Foreign Secretary William Hague detailing the Scottish Government’s gesture to welcome “any Ugandan” persecuted by the new laws. It comes on the back of an outcry from …

Britain’s Home Office is under for fire for “shockingly degrading” questions asked of LGBT people who seek asylum on the basis of persecution in their home countries. Via the Guardian: A confidential Home Office document leaked to the Observer reveals how one bisexual asylum seeker was asked a series of lurid questions by a Home Office official, including: “Did you …

Excellent news from the EU. The BBC has the story: The EU’s top court has ruled that homosexuals from Sierra Leone, Uganda and Senegal who fear imprisonment in their home country have grounds for asylum in EU member states. The Netherlands had asked the court for advice about three gay citizens of those countries seeking asylum. The European Court of …