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1 1 (July 1, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govedwk0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ______ *Research Service informrng the Igisative debate since 19 Asylum Eligibility for Applicants Fleeing Gang and Domestic Violence: Recent Developments July 1, 2021 Non-U.S. nationals (aliens, as the term is used in the Immigration and Nationality Act) from Central America have increasingly pursued asylum and related protections in the United States because of gang and domestic violence in their home countries. To qualify for protection, applicants typically must establish that the gang or domestic violence amounts to persecution because of one of five enumerated grounds, including membership in a particular social group. In Matter ofA-B- and Matter ofL-E-A-, former Attorneys General Jeff Sessions and William Barr issued rulings that made it more difficult for applicants to satisfy this requirement. Those rulings were binding upon immigration authorities within both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In February 2021, President Biden directed the Attorney General (AG) and the Secretary of Homeland Security to review the availability of asylum for applicants fleeing gang or domestic violence, and to issue joint regulations that clarify the meaning of a particular social group. In June 2021, AG Merrick Garland vacated the prior rulings in Matter ofA-B- and Matter ofL-E-A- pending issuance of these regulations. This Legal Sidebar examines the AG decisions addressing the availability of asylum for applicants fearing nongovernmental persecution based on their membership in a particular social group, President Biden's executive order, and legislative options for Congress. (A Legal Sidebar more specifically addressing AG Sessions's 2018 decision in Matter ofA-B- can be found here.) Asylum and Related Protections from Removal An applicant for asylum has the burden of proving past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution because of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. The applicant must show that one of these protected grounds was or will be at least one central reason for persecuting the applicant, and that the alleged persecution is from the government or groups that the government is unable or unwilling to control. The scope of the five enumerated grounds for which an alien may qualify for asylum has been the subject of dispute, and none more so than persecution based on membership in a particular social group. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the highest administrative body responsible for interpreting and applying federal immigration laws, has held that a Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10617 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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