08 Sep 2020
Professor Brian Lepard has published an article entitled “Violating International Law Through Onerous Procedural Law: The Proposed U.S. Asylum Regulations,” on the international law blog Völkerrechtsblog.
The article critiques proposed regulations issued on June 15, 2020 by the U.S. government that would drastically change procedures for applying for asylum and for so-called “withholding of removal.” Most importantly, the proposed regulations would require individuals with a credible fear of persecution to have their claims for asylum or withholding of removal adjudicated by an immigration judge in abbreviated proceedings, rather than in fuller and fairer proceedings under section 240 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as provided by the current regulations. They make many other adverse changes to asylum-seeking procedures as well that significantly increase the burden on applicants. Lepard argues that these changes would effectively undercut the exercise of the right to seek asylum, which the U.S. is bound under international law to protect and has also safeguarded in its domestic law.
Professor Lepard is the Harold W. Conroy Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Nebraska College of Law and a recognized expert on international human rights law.