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Immigration Practice - 14th Edition - Hardcover
Immigration Practice - 14th Edition - Electronic
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Chapter 16
IMMIGRATION TO AVOID PERSECUTION
AND CHAOS
§ 16-1. Introduction.
In keeping with international agreements concerning refugees, the Act
allows entry, protection from removal, and, in fact, permanent residence for
aliens who have a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race,
religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political
opinion in their home countries or in the countries to which they would
otherwise be removed. The preceding sentence is an overgeneralized
summary; the Act and related treaties actually provide for at least seven
different specific avenues of relief for aliens fleeing or fearing return to
problem countries: refugee status, asylum, withholding of removal,
temporary protected status, parole, permanent residence under the
“Lautenberg Amendment,” and non-refoulement under the Convention
Against Torture. Each avenue is discussed below, and an alien or attorney
considering such relief should become familiar with all of them to pursue
the best alternative or combination of alternatives.
USCIS’ web site under “Services & Benefits” > “Humanitarian Benefits”
contains quite detailed information concerning asylum and refugee rules
and procedures. In 2010 DHS is merging its two former databases for
refugee and asylee processing into one system referred to as “CAMINO.”
§ 16-2. Refugee Program.
For each fiscal year (October to September) the President, after
“appropriate consultation” with Congress, determines the number of
refugees who may be admitted and designates countries from which those
refugees will be admitted, with specific allocations for each designated
country. The President, again in consultation with Congress, may make
additional special twelve-month designations for refugees if justified by
“grave humanitarian concerns” or “the national interest” in response to an
“unforeseen emergency refugee situation.” 1
Chapter 16
IMMIGRATION TO AVOID PERSECUTION
AND CHAOS
§ 16-1. Introduction.
§ 16-2. Refugee Program.
§ 16-2(a). Procedures.
§ 16-2(b). Application for Refugee Status.
§ 16-2(c). Eligibility.
§ 16-2(d). Spouse and Children, and Other Family Members.
§ 16-2(e). Documentation, Work, and Travel.
§ 16-3. Asylum and Withholding of Removal before Approval.
§ 16-3(a). Procedures.
§ 16-3(a)(1). No Proceedings.
§ 16-3(a)(1)(i). Scheduling.
§ 16-3(a)(1)(ii). Interview.
§ 16-3(a)(1)(iii). Asylum Officer’s Disposition.
§ 16-3(a)(1)(iv). Special Rules for Certain Aliens.
§ 16-3(a)(2). In or After Proceedings.
§ 16-3(b). Application Package.
§ 16-3(c). Work Authorization While Applying.
§ 16-3(d). Approval and Revocation.
§ 16-3(e). Adjustment of Status.
§ 16-3(f). Spouse and Children.
§ 16-4. Substantive Standards for Refugee, Asylum, and Withholding Applications.
§ 16-4(a). Primary Standard: Persecution.
§ 16-4(a)(1). Supreme Court Rulings.
§ 16-4(a)(2). Regulations.
§ 16-4(a)(3). Other Issues.
§ 16-4(a)(4). Evidence and Credibility.
§ 16-4(b). Firm Resettlement.
§ 16-4(c). Mandatory Denial Grounds.
§ 16-4(d). Applicable Inadmissibility Grounds.
§ 16-4(e). Discretionary Denial of Asylum.
§ 16-5. Convention against Torture.
§ 16-6. Parole.
§ 16-7. Provisions Affecting Persons From Certain Countries.
§ 16-7(a). Temporary Protected Status.
§ 16-7(a)(1). Countries and Designation Periods.
§ 16-7(a)(2). Eligibility.
§ 16-7(a)(3). Time to Register/Apply.
§ 16-7(a)(4). Application Package.
§ 16-7(a)(5). Procedures.
§ 16-7(a)(6). Effect of TPS Approval.
§ 16-7(a)(7). Termination of Country’s Designation.
§ 16-7(b). Lautenberg Amendment and Other Provisions for Soviets, Vietnamese,
Laotians, and Cambodians.
§ 16-7(c). Chinese Student Protection Act.
§ 16-7(d). Adjustment of Certain Polish and Hungarian Parolees.
§ 16-7(e). Cuban, Nicaraguan, and Haitian Adjustment Acts.
§ 16-7(f). Suspension/Cancellation for Guatemalans, Salvadorans, and Certain Former
Soviet Bloc Countries (NACARA).
Robert C. Divine is the Chairman of the Immigration Group of Baker Donelson, a law firm of over 550 lawyers and public policy advisors with offices in 13 cities from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans.
Mr. Divine served in Washington, D.C. from July 2004 until November 2006 as the first presidentially appointed Chief Counsel of United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), the world's largest immigration services agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). From July 2005 until July 2006, he served as Acting Director and then Acting Deputy Director of USCIS. In early 2004 he served as an expert for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom evaluating the impact on asylum claims from DHS' implementation of expedited removal procedures.
He has practiced immigration law since 1986 and in the last several years has chaired the American Immigration Lawyers Association's "Inter-Agency" Committee and its Liaison Committee to the U.S. Department of State. He has served as an expert witness in U.S. and foreign courts.
His practice includes all aspects of U.S. immigration law, representing large and small international and domestic employers, investors, developers, regional centers, family sponsors, and individual foreign nationals. He has also litigated significant business matters, including class action employment discrimination, contract, commercial, product liability, antitrust, ERISA benefits, business torts (including RICO, misrepresentation, Consumer Protection Act), and immigration-related criminal matters.
