Removal, Adjustment and Asylum

A person who is not a United States citizen but who is in the United States, is eligible for a grant of asylum if she or he qualifies as a refuge. Generally, a refugee is a person who demonstrates persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of that person’s race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.  The persecution may be at the hands of the government of the person’s country, or at the hands of those whom the government cannot or will not control.
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides two forms of protection for aliens who come to the United States, fleeing from persecution in their home countries: (1) Asylum and (2) Withholding of Removal.
An asylum applicant must establish that she was persecuted or that she actually fears persecution (subjective belief) on account of one of the five grounds, and that a reasonable person in the applicant’s position would also fear persecution (objective standard) on account of one of the five grounds.
It is critical to determine up front where your are in the administrative process of seeking asylum. Has your asylum case been referred to the immigration judge or did the immigration judge just deny your application in court, or have you never before applied for asylum?  A consultation with Attorney Amezola can help in answering these and other questions for you.
Withholding of Removal
The Attorney General may not remove an alien to a country if the Attorney General decides that the alien’s life or freedom would be threatened in that country because of the alien’s race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
Convention Against Torture
No state party shall expel, return, or extradite a person to another state where there are substantial grounds for believing that he or she would be in danger of being subjected to torture.