1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Asylum Eligibility for Applicants Fleeing Gang and Domestic Violence: Recent Developments Updated August 6, 2021 Non-U.S. nationals (aliens, as the term is used in the Immigration and Nationality Act) fro
2、m Central America have increasingly pursued asylum and related protections in the United States because of gang and domestic violence in their home countries. To qualify for protection, applicants typically must establish that the gang or domestic violence amounts to persecution because of one of fi
3、ve enumerated grounds, including membership in a “particular social group.” In Matter of A-B- and Matter of L-E-A-, former Attorneys General Jeff Sessions and William Barr issued rulings that made it more difficult for applicants to satisfy this requirement. Those rulings were binding upon immigrati
4、on authorities within both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In February 2021, President Biden directed the Attorney General (AG) and the Secretary of Homeland Security to review the availability of asylum for applicants fleeing gang or domestic violence, and