Litigation Department
IRAP’s litigation department is dedicated to bringing innovative court challenges to address systemic issues affecting refugees, asylum seekers and others in need of a safe home. We leverage IRAP’s relationships with thousands of clients, expertise in providing direct client services, and connections to advocates around the world to advance the rights of all people to safe passage and to the opportunity to thrive.
Since we launched in 2017, we have won court victories that have benefited tens of thousands of people, including by re-opening pathways that have been shut down or restricted, and by ensuring that the government is processing applications promptly and fairly.
Current Cases
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Adam v. Pompeo: Challenging the delays in adjudicating I-730/Follow-To-Join Petitions for Family Reunification
IRAP filed this lawsuit in partnership with two resettled Darfuri refugees who have been waiting for a decision on their petitions for their spouses and children to join them in the United States.
CASA de Maryland v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security: Protecting asylum seekers’ access to work authorization
The complaint challenged the Trump Administration’s efforts to destroy asylum through two rules that would limit the ability of asylum seekers to work legally in the United States.
Afghan and Iraqi Allies v. Pompeo: Challenging systemic delays in deciding Special Immigrant Visa applications
IRAP filed this class action challenge to systemic delays in deciding Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applications of Afghans and Iraqis whose lives are at risk because of their work supporting U.S. efforts in their home countries.
Doe v. Wolf: Challenging the mass denial of refugee status to Iranian religious minorities
This class action lawsuit challenges the mass denial of refugee applications of nearly 90 Iranians of persecuted minority faiths who had traveled to Vienna to be processed under the Lautenberg Amendment.
IRAP v. Trump: Challenging the Trump administration Executive Orders banning entry of nationals from certain Muslim-majority countries
IRAP is the named plaintiff in IRAP v. Trump, the first lawsuit to challenge both President Trump’s original and revised Executive Orders in their entirety.
HIAS v. Trump: Protecting refugees against state and local veto of resettlement
IRAP filed this lawsuit on behalf of three resettlement agencies challenging an Executive Order giving state and local officials the unprecedented power to refuse refugees being resettled in their jurisdictions.
