Claiming Asylum in the USA: What You Need to Know

In 2018, the Trump administration pushed to cut down on legal immigration and strengthen the Department of Homeland Security's ability to enforce immigration laws. However, not all of the new rules are punitive—some help foreign citizens obtain immigration benefits.

Seeking Protection

If you are on your way to the United States in hopes to escape persecution from your home country, you could ask the US government at the border to "let you in" based on your circumstances.

Thousands of people fleeing persecution, most from Central America, line up at the United States' southern border every day hoping for asylum.

Types of Asylum Cases

In the United States, asylum cases take two different forms:

• "Affirmative" asylum seekers actively apply with the Department of Homeland Security's Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
• "Defensive" asylum seekers are those seeking asylum once facing removal proceedings before the Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR)

The Application Process

After an affirmative asylum application is filed, an asylum officer is supposed to schedule an interview within 45 days and a decision is expected to be made within 180 days. In practice, those deadlines have been hard to meet.

In January 2018, USCIS changed its policies for dealing with backlogs to prioritize cases in a new order, focusing on the newest cases first and working back toward older ones.

Get Legal Help

Our asylum attorney, Deron Edward Smallcomb, has successfully represented many asylum seekers over the years. Our law office can help you to file for asylum and using our legal services will give the typical applicant a far better chance of success with their application.

While there are reasonable attorney fees associated with the application, there is no government fee to file.

If you would like to learn more about this process, please call our law office so that we can determine your eligibility. The consultation is free and the information you get might change your life for the positive drastically.