Rules that impacted asylum-seekers in Texas were introduced by the Department of Justice last year which denied asylum claims of people who were the victims of gang violence or domestic violence in their home countries. On Dec. 19, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to stop applying them.

The ACLU had filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, arguing that the rules forced refugees who were fleeing domestic and gang violence in their home countries to undergo a higher standard than others during the credible fear assessment. Under the rules, people who were the victims of domestic or gang violence had to show that their home countries would not do anything to try to protect them.

Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions wrote in June that being the victim of domestic violence or gang violence would no longer be considered to be an appropriate basis for granting asylum. The court blocked the further implementation of the rule and ordered all of the people who had been deported on that basis to be returned to the U.S. for new credible fear assessments.

People who enter the country to seek asylum may be granted statuses as refugees if they are able to prove that they have a credible fear of harm or death if they are returned to their home countries. There are multiple grounds upon which asylum-seekers may base their claims. People might benefit from consulting with experienced immigration lawyers about the asylum process. If their requests for asylum are granted, they may then be given permission to live and work in the U.S. instead of being deported back to their home countries.

Source: NBC News, “Federal judge strikes down Trump asylum rules for domestic and gang violence victims“, Dareh Gregorian, Dec. 19, 2018