Asylum adjudications paused?

According to CBS News, the Trump Administration has paused all affirmative asylum adjudications. The story states that asylum officers "were instructed to refrain from approving, denying, or closing asylum applications received" by USCIS.

At the time of writing, the USCIS website does not contain any public notice of such a pause. Likewise, there has been no update to EOIR's website regarding any pause to defensive asylum adjudications.

This measure is in addition to the recently announced "national security measures" affecting asylum applicants from 19 "high risk countries." These measures will subject nationals from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen to full restriction and limitation of entry regardless of nonimmigrant or immigrant status. Nationals of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela, will be subject to partial restrictions and limitation of entry.

While the limitations seem ominous, there are numerous exceptions to the ban. Contact us to determine how and if the ban impacts your case.