DHS and DOJ finalize third-country transit asylum bar

Validated finding · five-country-2010-20260922-v118-evidence-presentation-fix

CountryUnited States

Operative dateJanuary 19, 2021

CategoryHumanitarian

Policy toolEligibility

Affected groupNew applicants

Policy effect

DHS and DOJ finalized, with changes, the 2019 third-country transit asylum bar for southern-border entrants who did not seek protection in a transit country.

Official source excerpt

Quoted verbatim from the official source below. Ellipses indicate omitted text.

--------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 CFR Parts 208 and 1208 Asylum Eligibility and Procedural Modifications; Final Rule Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 243 / Thursday, December 17, 2020 / Rules and Regulations [[Page 82260]] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 8 CFR Part 208 RIN 1615-AC44 DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Executive Office for Immigration Review 8 CFR Part 1208 [EOIR Docket No. 19-0111; Dir. Order 06-2021] RIN 1125-AA91 Asylum Eligibility and Procedural Modifications AGENCY: Executive … Office for Immigration Review, Department of Justice; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security. ACTION: Final rule. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: On July 16, 2019, the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security (``DOJ,'' ``DHS,'' or, collectively, ``the Departments'') published an interim final rule (``IFR'') governing asylum claims in the context of aliens who enter or attempt to enter the United States across the southern land border between the United States and Mexico (``southern land border'') after failing to apply for protection from persecution or torture while in a third country through which they transited en route to the United States. This final rule responds to comments received on the IFR and makes minor changes to regulations implemented or affected by the IFR for clarity and correction of typographical errors. DATES: This rule is effective on January 19, 2021. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lauren Alder Reid, Assistant Director, Office of Policy, Executive Office for Immigration Review, 5107 Leesburg Pike, Suite 2600, Falls Church, VA 22041, telephone (703) 305 … this final rule makes the following changes, pursuant to the Departments' authority under section 208(b)(2)(C) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. [[Page 82262]] 1158(b)(2)(C), and finalizes this regulatory action. This final rule makes no additional changes to the IFR beyond the changes described below. A. Amendments to 8 CFR 208.13(c)(4)(i), (iii) and 1208.13(c)(4)(i), (iii) The IFR provided that an alien who enters, attempts to enter, or arrives in the United States across the southern land border after transiting through at least one country outside of the alien's home country while en route to the United States will not be found ineligible for asylum if (1) the alien demonstrates that he or she applied for protection from persecution or torture in at least one country outside the alien's country of citizenship, nationality, or last lawful habitual residence through which the alien transited en route to the United States and the alien received a final judgment denying the alien protection in such country, (2) the alien demonstrates that he or she satisfies the definition of ``victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons'' provided in 8 CFR 214.11(a), or (3) if the only countries through which … of Sec. 1208.15, any alien who enters, attempts to enter, or arrives in the United States across the southern land border on or after July 16, 2019, after transiting through at least one country outside the alien's country of citizenship, nationality, or last lawful habitual residence en route to the United States, shall be found ineligible for asylum unless (i) The alien demonstrates that he or she applied for protection from persecution in at least one country outside the alien's country of citizenship, nationality, or last lawful habitual residence through which the alien transited en route to the United States and the alien received a final [[Page 82290]] judgment denying the alien protection in such country. * * * * * (iii) The only country or countries through which the alien transited en route to the United States were, at the time of the transit, not parties to the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees. * * * * * Approved: Chad R. Mizelle, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the General Counsel, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Approved: James R. McHenry III, Director, Executive Office …

Federal Register 85 FR 82260Federal Register 85 FR 82260. DHS and DOJ finalize third-country transit asylum bar. Effective 2021-01-19.Open official source

Retrieved from https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/12/17/2020-27856/asylum-eligibility-and-procedural-modifications

Review method

Two separate automated exact-claim source reviews

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DHS and DOJ finalize third-country transit asylum bar

Policy effect

Official source excerpt

Review method

Other United States changes operative in 2021