Sessions' Asylum Ruling Highlights Immigrant Counsel Need
Associate Buck Dixon is quoted in a Law360 story titled, “Sessions' Asylum Ruling Highlights Immigrant Counsel Need.” The story explores the U.S. Attorney General’s June 12 decision that narrows the circumstances under which members of particular “social groups” – including victims of domestic violence, gang violence and anti-LGBTQ crimes – have grounds to seek asylum. Dixon notes that establishing gang persecution as a basis for an asylum claim was always an uphill battle and this decision steepens it. He discusses a pro bono case in which he worked with Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) to represent a 14-year-old Guatemalan boy fleeing gang violence. Dixon was able to procure the proof needed to secure asylum but says the recent asylum decision will likely increase the already high standard of proof in such cases and increase the amount of evidence petitioners will need to produce.