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Asylum Hearings

Following is a brief discussion of the different types of court-based proceedings that can be expected in an asylum and "withholding of removal" case.

Asylum-Only Hearing - An asylum-only hearing applies to an individual who is denied a removal hearing under the law. These individuals include crewmen, stowaways, Visa Waiver Pilot Program beneficiaries, and those ordered removed from the United States on security grounds. An asylum-only hearing will be used to determine whether certain aliens who are not entitled to a removal hearing but claim a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country are eligible for asylum. In normal circumstances, asylum claims are heard by Immigration Judges during the course of a removal hearing.

Credible Fear Review - If an alien seeks to enter the United States without documents, or with fraudulent documents, and expresses a fear of persecution or an intention to apply for asylum, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security asylum officer will conduct an interview to determine whether the alien has shown a "credible fear" of persecution should he or she be returned to their home country. If an asylum officer decides that an alien does not possess a credible fear of persecution, an Immigration Judge will review that determination. If the Immigration Judge finds that the alien has a credible fear of persecution, the alien may apply for asylum, withholding of removal, or withholding under the Convention Against Torture.

Reasonable Fear Review - If an alien who is ordered removed during an expedited removal hearing expresses a fear of returning to his or her country, he or she must be given a "reasonable fear" interview by an asylum officer. Similar to the credible fear assessment discussed above, the asylum officer will determine whether the alien has a reasonable fear of persecution, or torture, based on a reasonable possibility that he or she will be persecuted due to his or her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, or due to a reasonable possibility that he or she would be tortured in the country of removal. If the interviewing officer determines that the alien has a reasonable fear of persecution based on any of the grounds noted above, or that the alien would be tortured in the country of removal, he or she will refer the alien for a hearing before an Immigration Judge. This hearing is known as a withholding-only hearing, given that the Immigration Judge will adjudicate only the issue of withholding of removal.

Withholding-Only Hearing - An Immigration Judge conducts a withholding-only hearing to determine whether an alien who has been ordered removed is eligible for withholding of removal under the law or the Convention Against Torture (CAT).

Source: U.S. Department of Justice