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Over the course of her career, Ms. Alice Yardum-Hunter has given many speeches and has published numerous articles to the lay and professional attorney reader alike. The writings and speeches published here and elsewhere are a sampling of her works.
These publications are made available for your personal edification, but are copyrighted and may be used or reprinted only with permission.
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Congress Revisits One Year Deadline for Asylum Applicants
4/5/1998
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by Alice M. Yardum-Hunter
Press Release on Asylum Deadlines |
NEWS
Los Angeles, April 5 -- Changes to the Immigration and Nationality Act regarding asylum applications took effect on April 1, 1998. As a result of The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, the government for the first time in U.S. history placed a time limit on applying for asylum in the U.S. Under this law, asylum applicants will have to apply for asylum within one year of arriving in the U.S. Applicants who last arrived on or before April 1, 1997, must have applied by April 1, 1998. Applicants who last arrived after April 1, 1997 must apply within one year of their arrival. Congress is examining this issue carefully again, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service is applying liberal exceptions to this law so as to amelioriate the potential devestating affects of its application.
Exceptions are made where there exist extraordinary circumstances relating to the delay, or changed circumstances materially affecting eligibility for asylum.
Many people who arrive in the U.S. as a result of general instability in their homelands short of persecution have applied over the years for asylum and had their cases denied. Many end up appealing their cases or face removal (formerly known as deportation). However, asylum is still appropriate depending on the specific situation of the individual, regardless of their country of origin. “Asylum is not the appropriate application for many immigrants to the U.S.”, according to Alice Yardum-Hunter, an Armenian-American immigration attorney from Encino, California. She advises, “Asylum applies to those who come to the U.S. in fear of persecution based upon religious beliefs, political opinion, membership in a particular social group, or racial or ethnic identity. Most people should consider options other than asylum to immigrate to the U.S., but for those who may qualify they must apply now within one grow of entry, or lose the opportunity.”
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