US Ends Trump-Era Policy Limiting Asylum for Survivors of Gang and Domestic Violence

Attorney General Merrick Garland overturned a Trump-era immigration policy on Wednesday that made it impossible for individuals to seek asylum in the US. These are due to fears of domestic abuse or gang violence. Garland vacated a decision by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions that contended the asylum claims had incorrectly extended to involve victims of "private violence," including gangs domestic violence, in 2018.

His decisions came in closely monitored cases where his predecessors Sessions and Attorney General William P. Barr broke with the previous cases to reverse decisions by immigration appeals that would have allowed such asylum claims. The decisions are applicable to all cases in the system, including appeals. This will impact thousands of migrants.

New Instructions

The United States government ended two Trump administration policies that made it difficult for immigrants fleeing violence to qualify for asylum, especially those from Central American. Attorney General Merrick Garland released new guidelines to immigration judges to halt implementing Trump-era instructions that made it difficult for immigrants who faced gang or domestic violence to gain asylum in the US.

This directive restores earlier legal standards as the Biden administration initiates a public rulemaking process that seeks input from the public on evaluating threats from private actors, which could be used as a basis for an asylum claim. According to the Justice Department, Garland's actions were a follow-up to an executive order President Joe Biden issued in February that provided federal officials nine months to release new regulations governing the interpretation of when an asylum applicant is faced with the possibility of persecution based on his or her membership in a specific social group, reported Politico.

Garland's decision came in a closely watched case designated as A-B, a name stemming from the initials of the woman appealing for asylum. The department's Board of Immigration Appeals discovered in 2016 that she was a member of a specific social group and stating that El Salvador is not doing enough to protect those in violent relationships, reported The Seattle Times.

Numerous Central Americans escaping gang recruitment and extortion and women escaping domestic abuse have arrived in the US since 2013. Several cases remain to be adjudicated, creating a large backlog in immigration courts.

Attorney General Vanita Gupta asked the Civil Division's immigration arm to assess pending cases that can be affected by Garland's overturning.

The action is the current administration's most recent reversal of a Trump-era policy. The move can make it more convenient for immigrants to win their cases for humanitarian protection. The decision is widely supported by immigrant advocates.

According to Kate Melloy Goettel, legal director of litigation at the American Immigration Council, "The significance of this cannot be overstated. This was one of the worst anti-asylum decisions under the Trump era, and this is a really important first step in undoing that," reported KFVS 12.