Asylum
Asylum is a protective status that allows people who are in the United States to remain in the country legally because they would be a t risk of serious harm if they had to return to their home country. Applicants who apply for asylum USCIS apply affirmatively. Asylum applicants who have been placed in removal (deportation) proceedings by the government apply for asylum in Immigration Court defensively.
A person is eligible for a discretionary grant of asylum if he or she has suffered past persecution or has a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Persecution is defined broadly. It includes the infliction of harm or suffering by a government or persons a government is unwilling or unable to control. Serious violation of human rights amount to persecution. Persecution may also include severe economic deprivation that threatens an individual’s life or freedom. Cumulative incidents of threats, discrimination, or harassment may also rise to the level of persecution.
There are certain facts that make some people ineligible for asylum, such as conviction of particularly serious crime. Also, in order to receive asylum an individual must file an application within one year of arriving in the U.S. However, someone who is barred from asylum due to a serious crime or a delay in filing may still be able to remain in the U.S> under other protective provision such as Withholding or Removal or a demonstration of changed circumstances.
TPS
An alternative to applying for asylum is applying for temporary protected status (TPS). TPS is a temporary immigration status granted to eligible nationals of designated countries. The Attorney General may provide TPS to aliens in the U.S. who are temporarily unable to safely return to their home country because of ongoing armed, conflict, na environmental diasaster, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions. I have assisted many clients for El Salvador, Guatemala, Hondorous and Haiti secure TPS.
