FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 20, 2021
PRESS CONTACT
Spencer Tilger
media@refugeerights.org
646.761.2556
IRAP URGES USCIS TO REVIEW REFUGEE APPLICATIONS DENIED UNDER TRUMP-ERA RULINGS
(New York, NY) – Last week, the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) sent a letter to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) urging the agency to affirmatively review the cases of all refugees whose applications for status were denied under the now-vacated precedents of Matter of A-B- and Matter of L-E-A-. Respectively, these Trump-era decisions limited protections for individuals fleeing gender and family-based persecution.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) acknowledged that the now-vacated decisions “restricted the availability of asylum” and recommended reviewing affected cases. IRAP welcomes the DOJ’s recommendation and urges USCIS to take steps to affirmatively reopen and review refugee applications that were denied under the same decisions.
“The previous administration shamefully denied access to safety for survivors of domestic violence and other at-risk asylum seekers and refugees,” said Sunil Varghese, Policy Director at IRAP. “We celebrate the Biden Administration’s decision to vacate two of the most harmful of those decisions and ask that refugees who unjustly had their cases dismissed have their applications reopened, so that they can access the safety they need.”
To view the letter, click here.
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