Topic: Asylum

Mar 2, 2023

On February 21, the Biden Administration proposed a series of policies which together, advocates claim, would result in a virtual asylum ban at the U.S.-Mexico border. HIAS Vice President for U.S. Policy and Advocacy Naomi Steinberg explains what this means and how it would impact asylum seekers.

Feb 27, 2023

HIAS is urging the Israeli government and the Knesset to halt judicial reform legislation that presents a genuine threat to democracy, social cohesion, and the rights of vulnerable minority groups.

Feb 21, 2023

HIAS is condemning proposed policies introduced today by the Biden administration that would amount to a virtual asylum ban. The change would deny access to protection to most people who have not already applied for protection in any other country they passed through on their journey to the United States, or to those who entered the United States without inspection and authorization.

Feb 2, 2023

For tens of thousands of Afghan evacuees, the clock is ticking to apply for asylum before their temporary status of humanitarian parole expires. By connecting evacuees with pro bono lawyers, the Pro Se+ project has helped many navigate this process more smoothly.

Jan 26, 2023

A new report by HIAS and Right to Protection (R2P) found that, while the European Union (EU)’s landmark decision to invoke the Temporary Protection Directive granted rights and status to at least 4.9 million people, many non-Ukrainians fleeing Ukraine did not get the same support.

Jan 26, 2023

Thousands of non-Ukrainian refugees and asylum seekers who fled Ukraine following Russia’s invasion continue to face significant barriers to protection and integration across the European Union, according to new research from HIAS and its Ukrainian partner Right to Protection (R2P). 

Jan 10, 2023

On January 5, the Biden administration announced that Title 42 — the public health order that was invoked by the Trump administration at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, which in essence stops most people from seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border — would be expanded.

Jan 5, 2023

HIAS assailed President Biden’s deeply flawed and outrageously inequitable plan to expand Title 42 border expulsions of asylum seekers and allow up to 30,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua who have sponsors in the U.S. to enter the country temporarily as humanitarian parolees – but only if they fly to U.S. airports.

Jan 4, 2023

HIAS is opposing a proposal by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that would once again raise certain immigration and naturalization fees to fund asylum and refugee processing. As the Jewish nonprofit dedicated to welcoming the stranger and protecting forcibly displaced persons, HIAS calls on the United States government to prioritize the protection of refugees and asylum seekers, and to fund that system appropriately, rather than continuing to rely on fees paid by immigrants, work visa holders and their employers who will have to pay a new $600 “Asylum Program Fee Surcharge” to cover the cost of the United States fulfilling its obligations under the International Refugee Convention.

Dec 23, 2022

In a moment when asylum seekers and other migrants are frequently regarded as threats, HIAS and T’ruah brought rabbis to the U.S.-Mexico border to speak to the moral imperative at the heart of this issue: recognizing the humanity of those seeking safety in the United States.