Selendy & Gay Co-Authors Amicus Brief Challenging Trump Administration Asylum Policy

March 11, 2020

Selendy & Gay Co-Authors Amicus Brief Challenging Trump Administration Asylum Policy

Selendy & Gay has co-authored an amicus brief filed in federal district court challenging a Trump administration asylum policy that unlawfully diverts migrants at the border to Guatemala.

The brief, submitted on behalf of a union representing asylum and refugee officers with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, argues the policy violates international treaty obligations by returning a vulnerable population to a country where they are likely to face persecution.

Under the policy, the Trump administration can deport migrants at the southwestern border seeking safety in the United States back to Guatemala, where levels of violence and gang activity are notoriously high.

Citing the amicus brief, the New York Times wrote that the policy “has turned the asylum system on its head."

“The most extreme in a recent series of draconian changes to the American asylum process, the [policy] dismantles our carefully crafted system of vetting asylum claims, and with it, America’s position as a global leader in refugee assistance,” the brief asserts.

Read more in the New York Times.

The Selendy & Gay Team 

Joy Odom and Andrew Dunlap served as co-authors on the brief.