Second Circuit's Expedited Adjudication of Asylum Cases - A Case Study of a Judicial Response to an Unprecedented Problem of Caseload Management
![handle is hein.journals/brklr74 and id is 433 raw text is:
The Second Circuit's Expedited
Adjudication of Asylum Cases
A CASE STUDY OF A JUDICIAL RESPONSE TO
AN UNPRECEDENTED PROBLEM OF
CASELOAD MANAGEMENT
Judge Jon 0. Newmant
The flood of asylum claims that came to the Second Circuit from
2002 through 2004 presented an unprecedented challenge of case
management, to which the court of appeals developed an unprecedented
response. This is the story of how the problem arose and how it was met.
I. THE LEGAL CONTEXT
A. Substantive Provisions
The Immigration and Nationality Act makes an alien eligible for
asylum in the United States upon a showing of past persecution on any of
several enumerated grounds or fear of future persecution on such
grounds.' The grounds are race, religion, nationality, membership in a
particular social group, [and] political opinion.' If an alien is found to be
eligible for asylum, the decision whether to grant asylum rests in the
discretion of the Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland
Security?
B. Procedural Provisions
An alien may generally assert an asylum claim in two ways.
First, the alien may file an affirmative application for asylum, which will
be considered by an asylum officer.' The asylum officer may either grant
the application or deny it and, if the alien is not entitled to remain in the
1 Judge Newman has served on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals for twenty-nine
years, serving as Chief Judge from 1993-1997. He serves as a member of the court's Backlog
Committee, which developed a response to the court's backlog of asylum cases. The committee has
primary responsibility for supervising the implementation of the court's Non-Argument Calendar.
8 U.S.C. §§ 1101 (a)(42), 1158(b)(1) (2000).
2 Id. § 1101(a)(42).
3 Id. § 1158(b)(1)(A).
4 8 C.F.R. §§ 208.2(a), 208.3(a) (2007).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/brklr74&div=17&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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