Family membership has long been considered a “prototypical example” of a particular social group (PSG), one of the five protected grounds in the definition of refugee, the basis for asylum status and protection1. Federal …

A review of precedential decisions issued in the last year of the Trump Presidency Boiled down, immigration law is administrative law.  U.S. government agencies in the Executive Branch decide whether a noncitizen must depart …

Gender-based particular social group (PSG) claims encompass those in which the applicant's gender is the defining, or one of the defining, fundamental or immutable characteristics (usually also including citizenship or nationality) giving rise to …

Over a year ago, I made a short film titled “Simón” about a Venezuelan freedom fighter seeking asylum in the United States. I was able to screen the film in eight countries throughout Latin …

The doors to Immigration Courts across the country are equipped with peepholes. The peephole has obvious security and administrative purposes. You don’t want to walk into the middle of a heated legal discussion or …

Recently, the 11th Circuit published a precedent decision dismissing a petition for review of the denial of an asylum application.  There is a lengthy discussion about the difference between individualized persecution claims, and claims …

Because the consequences of a frivolous finding render an applicant permanently ineligible for any immigration benefit, … a client who has made misrepresentations on an asylum application is walking on very thin ice.  Surprisingly, …

We have all seen, in the I-589, and heard the frivolous asylum warnings given to applicants for asylum. But what exactly is a frivolous asylum and what are the consequences? Frivolous Asylum Defined In …