Trump administration sued for blocking most LGBTQ or HIV-positive refugees from obtaining asylum
New rule would radically overhaul immigration system by creating narrow criteria for asylum eligibility
50SHARES
Central American asylum seekers featured in “The Right Girls” – Photo: Wolfer Productions.
A coalition of LGBTQ groups has filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for a rule that would make it all but impossible for LGBTQ and HIV-positive refugees fleeing violence and death threats in their home countries to seek asylum in the United States.
The Trump administration rule, which is set to go into effect on Jan. 11, 2021, makes sweeping changes to the U.S. asylum system without congressional approval and reinterprets who qualifies as a refugee, imposes a number of new criteria that asylum seekers would have to meet to be granted “credible and reasonable fear” interviews, which are used to determine the level of threat that an indivi