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Original Date Announced
September 20, 2019The United States and El Salvador sign an Asylum Cooperative Agreement (ACA). The agreement, signed by Acting Secretary Kevin K. McAleenan, allows the U.S. to transfer certain asylum seekers to El Salvador. This agreement is not applicable to Salvadorean citizens or residents and guarantees that it will be applied to unaccompanied minors consistent with U.S. law.
[ID #104]
Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of El Salvador for Cooperation in the Examination of Protection ClaimsSubsequent Trump-Era and Court Action(s)
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January 15, 2020
U.T. v. Barr
On January 15, 2020, the ACLU, National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, and Human Rights First filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s policies that are resulting in asylum-seekers being sent to so-called “safe” third countries to apply for asylum rather than being allowed to file asylum claims in the U.S. Cross motions for summary judgment remain pending with the court as of Oct. 26, 2020.
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**Litigation is listed for informational purposes and is not comprehensive. For the current status of legal challenges, check other sources.** -
December 29, 2020
DHS Announces Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras Have Signed Asylum Cooperation Agreement
DHS announces that Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras have all signed ACAs and that all three ACAs have entered into force. The agreements allow the United States to remove certain migrants seeking humanitarian protection to the ACA countries.
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Biden Administration Action: Revoked/Replaced
February 6, 2021DOS Suspends Asylum Cooperative Agreements with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras
This Biden administration policy revokes in its entirety the Trump-era policy identified in this entry.
On Feb. 6, 2021, the State Department announced that the U.S. had suspended and initiated the process to terminate the asylum cooperative agreements with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. According to the press release, the termination of these agreements will be effective only after the notice period stipulated in each of the agreements, but the suspension is effective immediately.
View DocumentCurrent Status
Not in effectMost Recent Action
February 6, 2021 Action: Revoked/Replaced DOS Suspends Asylum Cooperative Agreements with El Salvador, Guatemala, and HondurasFebruary 6, 2021Acted on by Biden Administration
Original Trump Policy Status
Status: Final/Actual In Litigation RescindedTrump Administration Action: Agency DirectiveSubject Matter: Border Asylum, Withholding and CATAssociated or Derivative Policies
- July 26, 2019 United States and Guatemala sign Asylum Cooperative Agreement
- September 25, 2019 United States and Honduras sign Asylum Cooperative Agreement
Pre Trump-Era Policies
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December 29, 2004
The United States and Canada signed an ACA on December 5, 2002, based on mutual acknowledgement of the international legal obligations of the Parties under the principle of non-refoulement set forth in the Convention and Protocol and recognition that both countries offer generous systems of refugee protection, recalling both countries’ traditions of assistance to refugees and displaced persons abroad.
Safe Third Country Agreement between United States and Canada -
December 23, 2008
Section 208(2)(A) establishes an exception to asylum and allows return to a "safe third country" only if: "the alien's life or freedom would not be threatened" and "the alien would have a full and fair procedure for determining a claim to asylum or equivalent temporary protection."
8 U.S. Code § 1158
Commentary
2021.01.18 Staff Report, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
On January 18, 2021, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democratic staff published a report entitled "Cruelty, Coercion, and Legal Contortions: The Trump Administration's Unsafe Asylum Cooperative Agreements with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador." The report finds, among other things, that "The ACAs appear to violate U.S. law and international obligations by sending asylum seekers and refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened . . . The Trump administration radically distorted the intent and meaning of the 'safe third country' provision in U.S. law, constructing the ACAs to function as a broad bar to asylum rather than an exception to the right to seek asylum . . . [and] The White House and DHS used coercive tactics to compel the governments of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador to sign the ACAs."
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