In asylum cases in Immigration Court, the record often becomes the case. Some applicants win because their story is compelling and consistent; others lose because the IJ cannot connect the story to the legal elements—or because “common sense” assumptions fill gaps that evidence should have filled.
The 2020 Belarus protests, also known as the Anti-Lukashenko protests or the Slipper Revolution, were a series of mass demonstrations that erupted in Belarus following the disputed presidential election on August 9, 2020. These protests represented the largest and most sustained challenge to President Alexander Lukashenko’s rule since he came to power in 1994.
In a significant development amid ongoing international tensions, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has pardoned 123 individuals, many of whom were prominent figures in the 2020 protests against his regime.
The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) published its Country Focus report on the Russian Federation in December 2025, covering the period from November 1, 2024, to November 1, 2025, with some data extending to October 2025. This report provides an in-depth analysis of recent political developments in Russia, emphasizing the escalation of repressive measures amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
In Matter of M-A-F-, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) held that when an asylum applicant filed initially before the enactment of the REAL ID Act of 2005 (effective May 11, 2005) then submits a subsequent asylum application after that date which presents either a previously unraised basis for relief or a substantially different factual basis, the later filing is treated as a “new” application.
On October 22, 2025, the U.S. Attorney General issued the decision Matter of Negusie, in which the long-running question of whether a “duress” or “coercion” exception exists to the so-called persecutor bar under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) was definitively resolved: the bar to asylum and withholding of removal for an individual who ordered, incited, assisted or otherwise participated in persecution does not include a coercion or duress exception.
