Written by ASAP’s expert immigration lawyers · Updated
One of ASAP members' top priorities is to make government practices around asylum more transparent and easier to understand. To help ASAP members understand government practices, ASAP can request information from the government using a law called the Freedom of Information Act (also known as FOIA). ASAP then uses the documents we receive – along with insights from ASAP members and expert immigration attorneys – to produce resources explaining the current state of the immigration system.
Below are some of the documents that ASAP and our partners have received from the government under the FOIA. However, please note that some of the policies announced in the documents below have been challenged in court or are out-of-date for other reasons, and are no longer in practice. The documents posted here are presented “as is,” and we make no representations regarding their accuracy, completeness, or reliability. For the most up-to-date information, please visit our website, where you can learn how laws are changing for asylum seekers, get current answers to common questions, and more.
Affirmative Asylum Dismissals and Expedited Removal
Lawsuit: ASAP v. USCIS, Case No. 25-cv-6065 (S.D.N.Y.) – A lawsuit seeking faster access to USCIS records about its use of expedited removal and its practice of dismissing certain affirmative asylum applications where USCIS claimed the applicant was placed into expedited removal.
Co-counsel: Morningside Heights Legal Services
FOIA Records Requested From: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
Status: The case was closed on October 16, 2025. As a result of the lawsuit, USCIS agreed to expedite processing of ASAP’s FOIA requests and produced a memorandum in which the Secretary of Homeland Security delegated to USCIS the authority to use expedited removal. USCIS also agreed to produce additional documents related to USCIS’s practice of dismissing certain affirmative asylum applications on a rolling basis.
Documents:
Immigration Benefits Pause
Lawsuit: ASAP v. USCIS, Case No. 25-cv-2133 (S.D.N.Y.) – A lawsuit to obtain the document that ordered USCIS to put certain parolees’ applications for other immigration benefits on hold.
Co-counsel: Human Rights First
FOIA Records Requested From: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
Status: The case was closed on May 15, 2025. As a result of the lawsuit, USCIS produced the requested memorandum and published it on the agency’s public online reading room.
Document: USCIS Parolees Benefits Pause Memo (February 14, 2025)
The Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP) aims to provide factual information about current immigration laws. This information is not legal advice.
All legal content is written and legally reviewed by ASAP’s team of expert immigration lawyers. ASAP’s expert lawyers have decades of experience in immigration law and litigation. Collectively, they have won hundreds of cases. Our lawyers are admitted to the Bar in several U.S. states, hold law degrees from universities including Harvard, Yale, and UCLA, and have won multiple awards for their legal work.