Rumors of Asylum’s Death Have Been Greatly (Somewhat? Slightly?) Exaggerated
The White House recently announced that asylum grant rates have “collapsed” to less than 7% in Immigration Court. How does this overall negative trend apply to an individual #asylum case? asylumist.com/2026/06/03/r...
New Tool to Monitor USCIS’s Progress (or Lack Thereof)
The American Immigration Council (AIC) has a new web page that collects and organizes statistical information from #uscis, including for asylum and asylum-adjacent applications. asylumist.com/2026/05/13/n...
The Administration’s Attack on I-730 Petitions
Asylee and refugee "follow to join" beneficiaries from "banned" countries are being blocked from coming to the United States. asylumist.com/2026/05/20/t...
USCIS Memo Seeks to Limit Adjustment of Status; How Does This Affect Asylees, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers? asylumist.com/2026/05/27/u...
Green Card Processing for Asylees Is Down 95% Since President Trump Took Office
A new report from the Cato Institute found that USCIS under the Trump Administration has slashed overall Green Card processing; asylees and refugees have been hit particularly hard. asylumist.com/2026/04/29/g...
USCIS Ends Some “Holds,” Including on Certain Asylum Seekers
In a rare bit of good news from the Trump Administration, USCIS has issued an update indicating that some holds have been lifted for #asylum seekers and others. asylumist.com/2026/04/08/u...
New–and Dangerous–Questions at the Asylum Office
Recently, we’ve been seeing some unusual questions during #asylum interviews. Since this is the Trump Administration, you can probably guess that the new questions are not designed to make life easier for asylum seekers. asylumist.com/2026/04/22/n...
A German Right-Wing Influencer Has Requested Asylum in the U.S. Does She Have a Case?
Ben Harville examines whether the German #asylum seeker has a case under the Trump Administration's new asylum regime. asylumist.com/2026/03/25/a...
Incompetence and Laziness in Immigration Court
The #immigration judge was unprepared for the case, he did not know the law, and he ignored direct orders from a higher court. asylumist.com/2026/06/17/i...
Affirmative Asylum Cases Dismissed and Sent to Court Without an Interview
#asylum seekers who were living their lives, working and going to school, suddenly found themselves in imminent danger of deportation, and in some cases, detained in a remote location. asylumist.com/2026/04/01/a...
Asylumist
Asylumist
I recently appeared in court before a newly-appointed Immigration Judge. Unlike some of the new hires, this IJ had prior government experience in the immigration arena. He also previously served as…
The American Immigration Council (AIC) has a new web page that collects and organizes statistical information from USCIS. The data spans the period from FY2016 through FY2025 (October 2015 through …
In a recent announcement, the White House stated that asylum grant rates have “collapsed” in Immigration Court. “Under President Trump,” the announcement continues, “a…
A few months ago, the Trump Administration instituted two travel bans, blocking nationals of 39 countries from coming to the United States. The bans explicitly stated that they would not apply to “…
Last week, USCIS issued a Policy Memorandum stating that adjustment of status (i.e., obtaining a Green Card inside the United States) is an “extraordinary” form of relief and is only av…
This post is by Ben Harville, an immigration attorney in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His practice includes family-based immigration, employment-based immigration, asylum, humanitarian relief, citizenship…
One quiet trend that has recently come to light is a new practice at the Asylum Office to dismiss affirmative applications without processing them. The asylum seekers are then subject to “exp…
asylumist.com
A new report from the Cato Institute found that USCIS under the Trump Administration has slashed overall Green Card processing by about 50%. Certain categories of Green Card applicants–includ…
Recently, we’ve been seeing some unusual questions during asylum interviews. Applicants are being asked about their views of America and of Jewish people. They are asked about their finances …
