A BUSY BUT PRODUCTIVE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR

My extremely busy beginning of the year schedule has taken me away from blogging for some time, but here is a bit of an update.

2014 started with two Asylum Office (AO) approvals and the scheduling of interviews at the Los Angeles District AO for several cases which have been back-logged at that office for periods well in excess of a year. We are awaiting decisions in two more cases which were terribly delayed due to the backlog and only recently were actually interviewed.  Some of our scheduled cases will not be interviewing at the AO and are awaiting Notices To Appear (NTAs) to pursue relief in Immigration Court.  Along with our colleagues who represent applicants before the AO, we continue to experience a slow-down in the AO's processing of cases, from the filing of the case to the scheduling of interviews. Though this can be frustrating for applicants who are anxious to present their cases at the AO, or in the cases of individuals with difficult asylum one-year bar issues, who wish to waive the interview for a referral to Immigration Court to pursue asylum and other immigration relief exclusively available in court, the slow-down has increased the asylum applicant's chances of actually obtaining their Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) while their cases remain pending at the AO.

In the past the AO would rush applicants to a hearing roughly 30 days after filing, and if the alien was out of status by the time the decision was being made on the case two weeks later, refer them to Removal Proceedings in Immigration Court, where the Immigration Judge would either require them to expedite their trial, or stop the expiration of their 180 day clocks which must expire before the alien can be issued an EAD. If the alien requested a continuance at the AO, the applicant's EAD clock would be stopped upon the making of the continuance request and would only restart on the day of the interview.  With the present back-log, we are experiencing a pathway to the asylum related EAD which is more relaxed.  It appears to be a trade off - long waits for asylum interviews, but greater assurance that the applicant will ultimately qualify for the EAD.

The problem with the backlog is that for those applicants recently escaping persecution in their home countries, with spouses and children remaining in the countries and in need of an approval of the principal applicant's asylum application and an asylee relative petition so as to reach the US, the delays are troubling and in my opinion potentially deadly in some cases.  Nevertheless, it does appear that the AO is doing the best it can given its existing man-power and its need to thoroughly adjudicating each application.

Asylum applicants in the Los Angeles District would do well to use the time caused by the AO's backlog to more thoroughly document their asylum claims and ready themselves both emotionally and in ensuring the sharpness or clarity of their presentations and ability to answer reasonable questions regarding the experiences which cause them to be afraid and/or unwilling to return to their countries.

Our Kenyan clients continue to excel in their cases.  We are encountering extremely serious applicants from that country with significant need of humanitarian relief.  We have also experienced an increase in cases from Mexico, Guatemala and Sri Lanka accross a pleathora of immigration applications and circumstances.

By:  Duane M. Hamilton