EOIR Issues Memo Providing Guidance on New Regulations Governing Procedures for Asylum, Withholding of Removal, and CAT Protection
EOIR issued a memo (PM 21-09) establishing EOIR policy and procedures regarding new DHS and DOJ regulations, effective January 11, 2021, about credible fear and reasonable fear review screenings and the adjudication of asylum, statutory withholding of removal, and protection under CAT claims.
Per the memo:
The regulatory changes apply only prospectively—i.e., to all asylum applications (including applications for statutory withholding of removal and protection under the CAT regulations) filed on or after its effective date and, for purposes of the changes to the credible fear and related screening procedures and reasonable fear review procedures, to all aliens apprehended or otherwise encountered by DHS on or after the effective date. Nevertheless, although the rulemaking itself is not retroactive, nothing in the rule precludes adjudicators from applying existing authority codified by the rule to pending cases, independent of the prospective application of the rule. Accordingly, the statutory authority and case law incorporated into the rule, as reflected in both the NPRM and the final rule, would continue to apply if the rule itself does not go into effect as scheduled.
Editorial Note: On January 19, 2021, PM 21-09 was withdrawn and removed from the EOIR Policy Manual. It was officially rescinded and canceled on May 14, 2021.
Related Resources
- District Court Issues Nationwide Preliminary Injunction Against New Asylum Regulations (Pangea Legal Services, et al. v. DHS, et al., 1/8/21)
- Immigration Impact: ‘Death to Asylum’ Rule Halted in the Last Days of the Trump Administration – January 14, 2021
- DHS and DOJ Final Rule on Procedures for Asylum, Withholding of Removal, and CAT Protection (85 FR 80274, 12/11/20)
- AILA Press Statement: New Rule Spells Death for the Asylum System - AILA and the Council Urge the Biden Administration to Prioritize Its Undoing - December 10, 2020