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Original Date Announced
May 31, 2019USCIS will make independent factual inquiries in all asylum applications made by unaccompanied children (UACs) to determine whether they meet the UAC definition on the date of filing. Officers will make this determination (which requires a finding that the applicant was under 18 and unaccompanied at the time of first filing) using records, documentary evidence, and oral testimony.
[ID #80]
Updated Procedures for Asylum Applications Filed by Unaccompanied Alien ChildrenEffective Date
June 30, 2019Subsequent Trump-Era and Court Action(s)
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August 2, 2019
J.O.P. v. DHS Memorandum Opinion
A district court judge in J.O.P. v. DHS, (8:19-cv-1944 (D. Md. Aug. 2, 2019)) issued temporary restraining order enjoining implementation of the policy. USCIS is barred from “rejecting jurisdiction over the application of any UAC… whose application would have been accepted under” the Kim Memo. USCIS must retract decisions already made. USCIS must “retract any adverse decision already rendered” under the new policy “and reinstate consideration of such case applying the [Kim Memo].” Litigation continues with Judge George Hazel on June 3, 2020 denying the government's motion to dismiss/motion for summary judgment.
On Dec. 21, 2020, the court issued an order certifying a class and amending the injunction. The policy remains enjoined.
View Document
Current Status
Not in effectOriginal Trump Policy Status
Trump Administration Action: Change in PracticeSubject Matter: Minors Asylum, Withholding and CATAgencies Affected: USCISPre Trump-Era Policies
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May 28, 2013
The prior May 28, 2013 USCIS memorandum put forward procedures for determining jurisdiction that allowed asylum officers to adopt prior unaccompanied child (UAC) determinations made by CBP or ICE with no further factual inquiry (so long as those determinations were still in place on the date of filing the asylum application).
Updated Procedures for Determination of Initial Jurisdiction over Asylum Applications Filed by Unaccompanied Alien Children
Commentary
New USCIS memo denies access to non-adversarial affirmative asylum procedures for many vulnderable children
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