Millions of people around the world leave their home countries to build new lives in a new place. They might have left because of war, persecution, human rights violations or other crises that make them fear for their safety. Many are afraid because of who they are – their ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or political views.
Asylum is a form of protection and an immigration status. It is granted by an immigration judge if you show that you have both a well-founded fear of future persecution and meet all the requirements for asylum. You must apply for asylum using Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal. You must include a detailed personal statement that describes the conditions in your country of origin and how you believe you would be persecuted if returned there.
The government has begun asking immigration judges to dismiss asylum cases and then put them in a faster deportation process called expedited removal. This is a very serious change that affects thousands of people who need the protection of asylum.
Survivors of domestic violence may be eligible for asylum if they can show that their family members would harm them in the country where they’re seeking protection. The same is true for survivors of gang violence or other forms of organized crime. People who have HIV are also at risk of being harmed in their home countries because of their status. In a few cases, immigration judges have recognized that people living with HIV constitute a “particular social group” (PSG) for the purposes of asylum.