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This newsletter is for people interested in protecting asylum -seekers and refugees in the United States. HRF has been advocating for refugees for two decades, and helping thousands to obtain asylum in the United States. Latest Issues  Attorney General Remands Case of Victim of Domestic Violence to the Board of Immigration Appeals Congress Holds EOIR Oversight Hearing Asylum Denied More Often by Politically Vetted Judges; DOJ Failure to Increase Number of Judges HRF and Others File Amicus Brief in Supreme Court Case Congressional Committee Hears Testimony on Medical Care in Immigrant Detention Medical Care Deficient in U.S. Detention Book Details Struggles in U.S. Asylum System Wave of Denials to Stop Refugee Crisis In Iraq Act Signed By President Bush Material Support Waiver Legislation Amicus Briefs Submitted to Supreme Court on Serious Crimes Bar Update: Detention - ICE Issues new Guidance on Parole of Asylum Seekers Material Support: Hmong and Montagnard Waivers Update: Material Support Settlement Announced in Hutto Litigation GAO Finds Lack of Phone Access for Detainees Iraqi Refugee Crisis New Study Reveals Disparities in Asylum Decisions Child Soldiers and Material Support Iraqi Refugees Face Hurdles in Search for Refuge Commission Issues "Report Card" on Asylum Reforms Material Support Update: Progress for Some Asylum Seekers; Process Still Unknown 
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Asylum News 58 October 2007 Material Support: Hmong and Montagnard Waivers
These waivers will allow Hmong and Montagnard refugees already in the United States, who had been prevented from becoming permanent residents for years now, to finally adjust their status and become legal permanent residents. The waivers will also allow other refugees who are abroad to be resettled in the U.S. To read the State Department press releases on these waivers, click here and here. To read the Southeast Action Resource Center press release on these waivers, click here. On October 4, 2007, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law held a hearing on the issue of medical care for immigrants in detention. The hearing addressed the medical care that immigrant detainees, who have often fled trauma and torture in their home country, receive in immigration detention centers. Both advocates and former detainees testified on the need for better access and closer attention to medical care for immigrants in detention. To read the witnesses' testimony or listen to a webcast of the hearing, click here. On October 12, 2007, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights held a hearing concerning U.S. detention of immigrants and asylum seekers. The event marked the first time that the Commission held a hearing on the subject of immigration detention. Witnesses included advocates from the Rights Working Group and the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children. To read the testimony of the Women's Commission and the Rights Working Group, click here. To read Human Rights First's submission describing how U.S. detention of asylum seekers is arbitrary under international law, click here.
Syria also announced that it would require Iraqis to have visas to enter their country. The vast majority of Iraqi refugees no longer have any way to flee from Iraq. Read: Syria Shuts Main Exit From War for Iraqis, The New York Times - 10/21/2007 Human Rights First is working to secure a comprehensive response to the Iraqi refugee crisis. For more information about the issue and HRF's Lifeline for Iraqi Refugees Project, click here.
On September 5, 2007, the Board of Immigration Appeals reversed a grant of withholding of removal to a Senegalese father whose claim rested on his fear that his U.S. citizen daughters would be subject to genital cutting (FGC) in Senegal. The case, known as A-K-, was designated as a "precedent decision." On September 30, 2007, the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies (CGRS) updated its practice advisory to include a discussion and analysis of this case. To read the full opinion, click here. To read the CGRS practice advisory, click here.
At its annual dinner on October 15, 2007, Human Rights First announced that it had selected two law firms to receive its annual Marvin Frankel award for their outstanding pro bono work and contributions to the work of Human Rights First. The firms selected were Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and Lowenstein Sandler PC. The firms have provided high quality legal representation to indigent asylum seekers, including to asylum seekers held in immigration detention. For more information on the Marvin Frankel Award, click here. |
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On October 20, 2007, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff authorized waivers of the "material support" provisions of the immigration law for individuals who provided "material support," prior to December 31, 1992, to the Vietnamese Montagnard group Front Unifié de Lutte des Races Opprimées. On the same day, Secretaries Rice and Chertoff issued a waiver exempting individuals who had provided material support to Hmong groups or individuals prior to December 31, 2004. 
The fiscal year for U.S. refugee resettlement ended on September 30, 2007. In early October, the U.S. announced that it had resettled 1608 Iraqi refugees over the prior twelve months. The number is far below the 7000 goal announced by the U.S. earlier in the year. The Departments of Homeland Security and State announced a modest resettlement goal of 12,000 Iraqi refugees for the next 12 months. Over 4 million Iraqis have fled their homes. 