Law Of Asylum In The United States

This book provides a detailed guide to the substantive and procedural law of asylum and refugee protection in the United States. In approaching this task it combines detailed discussions of actual doctrine and case law with explanations of the important details of this law's administrative practice. After defining what is meant by the term 'asylum', the author examines the legal framework which exists for the protection of refugees or asylum seekers. Given that this framework is derived from sources of both international and domestic law, the author devotes separate sections to international law, international refugee law and domestic law. The author then clarifies which individuals are entitled to apply for asylum and the withholding of deportation, before attempting a 'when, where and how' appraisal of the application procedure itself. The book presents a comprehensive assessment of the applicant's rights and examines the criteria which must be fulfilled, in theory, for an application to be successful (i.e. for a persecution claim to be proved). Finally, the book has some interesting features in its lengthy appendices: a list of lawyers who have had experience in representing asylum claimants from different countries (contact addresses testify to the book's function as a practical guide); a human rights documentation resource list; and the reproduction, in detail, of both case summaries and the full texts of several decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals.

This treatise covers asylum law, withholding of removal, and Convention Against Torture protection, plus basic procedures for applying for relief.

The rise and fall of asylum in antiquity -- Sanctuary in England -- The nation-state origins of refugee law -- The evolution and impact of international refugee law -- The US sanctuary movement -- The sans-papiers

"The United States Code is the official codification of the general and permanent laws of the United States of America. The Code was first published in 1926, and a new edition of the code has been published every six years since 1934. The 2012 edition of the Code incorporates laws enacted through the One Hundred Twelfth Congress, Second Session, the last of which was signed by the President on January 15, 2013. It does not include laws of the One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, First Session, enacted between January 2, 2013, the date it convened, and January 15, 2013. By statutory authority this edition may be cited "U.S.C. 2012 ed." As adopted in 1926, the Code established prima facie the general and permanent laws of the United States. The underlying statutes reprinted in the Code remained in effect and controlled over the Code in case of any discrepancy. In 1947, Congress began enacting individual titles of the Code into positive law. When a title is enacted into positive law, the underlying statutes are repealed and the title then becomes legal evidence of the law. Currently, 26 of the 51 titles in the Code have been so enacted. These are identified in the table of titles near the beginning of each volume. The Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives continues to prepare legislation pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 285b to enact the remainder of the Code, on a title-by-title basis, into positive law. The 2012 edition of the Code was prepared and published under the supervision of Ralph V. Seep, Law Revision Counsel. Grateful acknowledgment is made of the contributions by all who helped in this work, particularly the staffs of the Office of the Law Revision Counsel and the Government Printing Office"--Preface.

International law provides states with a common definition of a "refugee" as well as guidelines outlining how asylum claims should be decided. Yet even across nations with many commonalities, the processes of determining refugee status look strikingly different. This book compares the refugee status determination (RSD) regimes of three popular asylum seeker destinations: the United States, Canada, and Australia. Though they exhibit similarly high levels of political resistance to accepting asylum seekers, refugees access three very different systems-none of which are totally restrictive or expansive-once across their borders. These differences are significant both in terms of asylum seekers' experience of the process and in terms of their likelihood of being designated as refugees. Based on a multi-method analysis of all three countries, including a year of fieldwork with in-depth interviews of policy-makers and asylum-seeker advocates, observations of refugee status determination hearings, and a large-scale case analysis, Rebecca Hamlin finds that cross-national differences have less to do with political debates over admission and border control policy than with how insulated administrative decision-making is from either political interference or judicial review. Administrative justice is conceptualized and organized differently in every state, and so states vary in how they draw the line between refugee and non-refugee.

The only comprehensive analysis of international refugee rights, anchored in the hard facts of refugee life around the world.

Few issues on the American political agenda are more complex or divisive than immigration. There is no shortage of problems with current policies and practices, from the difficulties and delays that confront many legal immigrants to the large number of illegal immigrants living in the country. Moreover, few issues touch as many areas of U.S. domestic life and foreign policy. Immigration is a matter of homeland security and international competitiveness, as well as a deeply human issue central to the lives of millions of individuals and families. It cuts to the heart of questions of citizenship and American identity and plays a large role in shaping both America's reality and its image in the world. Immigration's emergence as a foreign policy issue coincides with the increasing reach of globalization. Not only must countries today compete to attract and retain talented people from around the world, but the view of the United States as a place of unparalleled openness and opportunity is also crucial to the maintenance of American leadership. There is a consensus that current policy is not serving the United States well on any of these fronts. Yet agreement on reform has proved elusive. The goal of the Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy was to examine this complex issue and craft a nuanced strategy for reforming immigration policies and practices.

This volume examines the law and system of control which govern immigration and asylum in the UK. It begins with the historical and legal context, explains who is subject to immigration control, and describes the legal and administrative structure of the system.