January 8, 2021
KIND was joined by the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights and Public Counsel in filing amicus curiae briefs in two federal lawsuits challenging extensive and unfair changes to asylum eligibility and processing standards. The three groups, represented by DLA Piper, filed in support of plaintiffs’ motions to delay or enjoin the rules that were published with an effective date of January 11, 2021. The briefs focus on particular provisions of the rule with outsized impacts on unaccompanied children: a rule authorizing judges to “pretermit” and deny many cases based only on written documents, denying children their legal right to a live hearing; high hurdles to asylum eligibility for any child who passed through another country en route to the United States; and nearly blanket denials of protection to children who were victims of gang violence or domestic abuse.
