On Jan. 6, 2023, DHS began accepting online applications for the Cuban, Haitian, and Nicaraguan programs. The Venezuelan parole process has been open since Oct. 18, 2022. Under these parole programs, nationals of the four countries who are outside the United States may apply for advance permission to travel to the United States and enter through a grant of parole. DHS has lifted the previous cap of 24,000 Venezuelan beneficiaries and will now provide travel authorization to a total of 30,000 beneficiaries per month across the four countries.

CLINIC joined dozens of organizations in an effort led by NIPNLG and SPLC urging DHS and EOIR to address access to counsel issues faced by asylum seekers subject to the Remain in Mexico policy. The letter details factors that currently impede such access and recommends steps that should be taken to reduce these barriers.

CLINIC and 150 legal, faith-based and humanitarian organizations wrote to urge the administration to terminate MPP after the 9th Circuit upheld an injunction on the program. MPP places asylum-seekers in danger and creates barriers to legal representation.

Joined by Democracy Forward, CLINIC represents two asylum-seeking families and the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) in challenging the Trump administration’s policy directives that eviscerate protections for families fleeing persecution. On March 1, 2020, the federal District Court for the District of Columbia held that Cuccinelli’s appointment was unlawful and set aside the asylum directives.

CLINIC joined with 17 other organizations that serve asylum seekers to urge the Ninth Circuit to uphold a preliminary injunction in favor of asylum seekers affected by Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) so-called “metering” policy.

The administration continues its attacks on vulnerable asylum seekers arriving at our southern border. It's latest plan, the Remain in Mexico Policy, requires asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their asylum cases are pending in the U.S. immigration courts. This policy exposes asylum seekers to great risk of harm, curtails their access to counsel, and does not present a solution to the root causes of Central American migration flows.

Despite public outcry and legal challenges, DHS has persisted in the expansion and implementation of its immoral, life-threatening practice of forcing certain asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their case is processed. CLINIC renewed its February 2019 interfaith letter opposing this policy in response to requests by faith leaders and organizations, and over 650 faith-based organizations and leaders signed on requesting the termination of the Remain in Mexico policy.

More than 500 faith leaders and organizations called on the Department of Homeland Security to end its policy of requiring some asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases proceed.

CLINIC joined its partners in the Dilley Pro Bono Project on Feb. 6, 2019, to submit a collection of data and information to DHS demonstrating the harmful effects of the MPP program.