What's the difference between a refugee and an asylee?

By Jessica Suotmaa 0

In popular media the terms ‘refugee’ and ‘asylee’ are often used interchangeably. It’s difficult to tell the difference between seeking refuge and seeking asylum. After all, don’t they mean the same thing?

When it comes to the specific ways the terms apply in immigration, the answer is no.

In this article, we will explain the difference between a refugee, asylee, and asylum seeker.

What’s a Refugee?

Generally, a refugee is someone who has been forced out of their home country. The refugee is seeking refuge outside of their home country because they can no longer remain or return there.

However, in order to receive “refugee status” in the U.S., a refuge seeker must meet certain standards. These standards are dictated by Section 101(a)(42) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), and are similar to the international Refugee Status Determination process (RSD).

Here’s what USCIS would require of a potential refuge seeker:

  • Refuge seeker must be outside of the U.S. at the time of application
  • Refuge seeker must’ve been persecuted due to the one of the following:
    • race
    • religion
    • nationality
    • membership in a particular social group
    • political opinion
  • Refuge seeker cannot be settled in another country
  • Refuge seeker must be inadmissible in the U.S. by other means

To apply for refugee status in the U.S., a refuge seeker must be referred to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) for refugee status determination.

What “rights” do Refugees have?

Once refugees are granted “refugee status”, they have certain internationally recognized “rights”. Such rights include:

  • Right to their original property (in their country of origin, should they return)

Note: Voluntary return to a refugee’s country of origin to claim property can result in a loss of their third country residence allowance. So if you’ve been granted stay in a country where you didn’t apply for asylum, you can lose that right to stay when you leave to return to your country of origin.

  • Right not to be deported to their country of origin

Note: Although a refugee cannot be deported to their country of origin (where they were persecuted), they can be relocated to a different country.

  • Right to travel (but not to their country of origin)

Note: Refugees are encouraged to remain in the first country they arrive at instead of shopping for better refugee benefits, or risk losing their refugee status.

Who is NOT a Refugee?

The USCIS website specifies that a person who leaves his home country for a “better life” is not a refugee but an “economic immigrant”.

Also, those who are already in the U.S. seeking refuge for humanitarian reasons such as persecution by race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion must apply through the asylum program.

Who is an Asylum Applicant?

Where a refugee is not granted permission to enter a country until they are approved through the refugee program, an asylum applicant is a person who applies for asylum status while in the country. Therefore, a migrant who feels persecuted can enter American soil or reach the U.S. border and request asylum. But, the key difference is that a refugee has been granted asylum before they entered the U.S. and an asylum seeker is claiming they are a refugee but is still waiting for the results of his or her application.

In most countries, asylum applicants do not have the same rights as refugees. They are not granted work permits, benefits, or the freedom to move freely within the country.  Asylum applicants must prove their case before they can become “asylees”.

Who is an Asylee?

An asylee is an asylum applicant who has been granted refugee status or “asylum”.

 

Do you have questions regarding your asylum qualifications or application? Contact our experienced asylum attorneys about the best way to present your application or most credible deportation defense case strategy!

5 Things to Know About Sessions' Recent Asylum Decision re: Domestic and Gang Violence

By Jessica Suotmaa 0

We have been carefully following Attorney General Jeffrey Sessions’ review of the domestic violence asylum case (Matter of A-R-C-G-, 26 I&N Dec. 338 (BIA 2014)), which he overturned on June 11, 2018.  While our previous post on Sessions’ asylum decision was rather detailed, this post will outline the top five things you need to know from his decision.

  1. “Particular Social Group” category definition

Sessions states that persecution is usually government persecution, and while he did not define exactly what the catch-all “particular social group” includes, he does list all the boxes the particular case did not check.

The particular social group must…

  1. …be widely “understood to be a societal faction or a recognized segment of the population” in the applicant’s home country.
  2. …have members who share a “common immutable characteristic”, such as one “that either is beyond the power of an individual to change or is so fundamental to individual identity or conscience that it ought not be required to be changed.”
  3. …not be too wide in definition, such as “married women in Guatemala who are unable to leave their relationship”.
  4. …not be too narrow in definition, such as “El Salvadoran women who are unable to leave their domestic relationships where they have children in common”.
  5. …not be helped by the government (when not directly persecuted by the government).
  6. …must be the primary cause for asylum.

In the case of gang violence, Sessions explains how immigration judges have previously determined that victims of gang violence are not a “particular social group” but come from “all segments of society” and cannot be grouped together. So while it seems that gang members are a social group, victims of gang members are unfortunately not.

  1. Burden of Proof

Sessions highlights that the “burden of proof” lays with the applicant, meaning the applicant must show enough evidence to prove her need for asylum. The evidence must meet all the elements for asylum, which is determined by the asylum officer, immigration judge, or the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA).

An example of bearing the burden of proof is by proving “group membership”. An applicant is expected to know the origins of the particular social group and be able to describe her membership.

  1. Credibility

Sessions has stated that if an applicant’s asylum claim is “fatally flawed in one respect, [then] immigration officers and judges need not examine the remaining elements of the asylum claim”. This basically means the applicant’s story must add up and be fool proof. If there are any question marks that constitute a “flaw” in reasoning, then the asylum application can be instantly denied without further review.

Applicants may notice the results of this decision at Immigration when observing asylum interviews that last mere minutes.

  1. Government’s Responsibility

To qualify for asylum, the applicant must prove that her government is unable or unwilling to protect her. However, if the government has made efforts but “may have problems effectively policing certain crimes”, then that reason alone is not enough to meet asylum requirements. Similarly, if “certain populations are more likely to be victims of crime”, then it is also not enough to qualify.

In the above case of domestic violence, Sessions states that for the applicant to show that the government doesn’t control private behavior well, e.g., the police don’t respond to 911 calls, is not enough. Rather, the applicant must prove that the government is not only aware of the private behavior, but also allows it to occur. If the case is that the government cannot protect the applicant, then the applicant must show evidence of the government’s inability to protect victims like her.

“The fact that the local police have not acted on a particular report of an individual crime does not necessarily mean that the government is unwilling or unable to control crime, any more than it would in the United States. There may be many reasons why a particular crime is not successfully investigated and prosecuted. Applicants must show not just that the crime has gone unpunished, but that the government is unwilling or unable to prevent it.”

  1. Scope

Finally, Sessions reminds that applicants not only have to prove all of the above and any other requirements, but also has to provide evidence as to why escape to the United States is their only option.

“When the applicant has suffered personal harm at the hands of only a few specific individuals, internal relocation would seem more reasonable than if the applicant were persecuted, broadly, by her country’s government.”

 

If you have any questions about how Sessions’ decision reversal may affect your application for asylum or immigration hearing, contact us today to talk to an experienced immigration attorney!