Litigation

Defending asylum seekers in court is at the heart of what we do. The Center for Gender & Refugee Studies is committed to protecting as many refugees as possible under existing law even as we work for a more just legal system. We litigate in two key areas: advancing substantive asylum law to keep legal avenues open for refugees and protecting the asylum system itself to make sure that people have access to a fair legal process. This litigation docket provides an update on some of the major cases that CGRS is fighting in court.

Featured Cases

  • Credit: Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald via AP

    CGRS is co-counsel in a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of people harmed under the original implementation of Trump's Remain in Mexico policy.

    Asylum at the Border
    Remain in Mexico
  • Credit: Matt Gush/iStock.com

    The Supreme Court has taken up CGRS and our partners' challenge to the government's rescinded turnback ("metering") policy.

    Asylum at the Border
    Metering
  • CGRS and our partners are challenging Trump's illegal proclamation shutting down access to asylum at the southern border.

    212(f) Shutdown
    Asylum at the Border

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  • Credit: Brooke Anderson

    We won a major victory defeating Trump administration rules that drastically limited asylum seekers' access to work permits.

    Work Permits
  • Credit: Maddie McGarvey/Mother Jones

    CGRS joined the ACLU and Human Rights First in a class action lawsuit challenging ICE's unlawful detention of people seeking asylum.

    Detention
  • CGRS and Casa Cornelia filed a FOIA lawsuit forcing ICE to release information on the mistreatment of an asylum seeker in detention and on the agency's unlawful attempts to deport her.

    Detention
  • Credit: Brooke Anderson

    CGRS and our partners are challenging the government's Mandatory Bars Rule, which imposes unlawful barriers to protection for people fleeing persecution and torture.

    Asylum at the Border
    Bars to Asylum
  • Credit: Brooke Anderson

    CGRS and the ACLU won an injunction blocking the government from rejecting survivors of gender- and gang-related violence in initial asylum screenings at the border.

    Gender-Based Asylum
  • Credit: Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald via AP

    CGRS is co-counsel in a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of people harmed under the original implementation of Trump's Remain in Mexico policy.

    Asylum at the Border
    Remain in Mexico
  • Credit: Brooke Anderson

    CGRS, the ACLU, and the Southern Poverty Law Center secured multiple court rulings finding the Trump administration's Remain in Mexico policy unlawful.

    Asylum at the Border
    Remain in Mexico

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