By Medha Nair
Clients and their families seeking asylum often turn to immigration attorneys for answers about application status and wait times. However, now, even attorneys are often left without clear answers themselves because of the current system.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services sent out a memo in December 2025 that put a pause on all asylum applications into effect. There was also a memo in January that paused benefits for people from countries in the Expanded Travel and Immigration Ban who arrived on or after Jan. 20, 2021. These memos are adding to an already backlogged system, and the benefits are inaccessible.
Kaci Bishop, a law professor, is the director of the immigration clinic where UNC-Chapel Hill law students work with clients who are asylum seekers. Despite the policy changes, Bishop said nothing has fundamentally changed in the core of asylum law.
The guidelines for asylum remain largely unchanged, Bishop said. To qualify for asylum, a person must prove they were persecuted or have a reasonable fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. One year after being granted asylum, individuals may apply for permanent residency.
The Constitution, statutes and federal regulations have remained mostly the same, Bishop said. What has mainly shifted, however, are policy memos. Many clients are confronted with long backlogs for court hearings.
“You’re kind of at the mercy of the backlog,” said Max Parker, a law student at the clinic who has a few clients impacted by the paused decisions.
Parker came into the field after working in legal aid and realizing their passion was interacting directly with clients, especially those who may not have access to an attorney otherwise.
The way the clinic functions is similar, offering its services free of cost. It also has social work students who help direct clients to resources and local organizations. The clinic allows for learning experiences on how to interact with and provide for a client.
However, at the forefront of the clinic is the legal representation of clients. Parker said they wouldn’t jeopardize a client’s future for the sake of a learning experience.
But while the students are learning, the clinic remains uncertain about when their clients will get more definite answers because of a system larger than them, Bishop said.
Omar is a North Carolina resident who arrived two years ago, in March, after reaching the U.S.-Mexico border from Venezuela, a country currently included in the Expanded Travel Ban.
He requested political asylum and entered on parole after waiting for months for a CBP One appointment for asylum seekers at the border.
This doesn’t mean his asylum application is approved, but while he waits, he can work and provide for his two sons back home. However, for others arriving like him, even the right to request asylum at a port of entry is contested.
In the United States Supreme Court, a pending case, Noem v. Al Otro Lado, was argued at the end of March. The case’s central question: “Does a noncitizen who is stopped on the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border ‘arrive in the United States’ within the meaning of Immigration and Nationality Act?”
Al Otro Lado is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in the border city of Tijuana, Mexico, with U.S. attorneys. They provide legal services and humanitarian aid to people from all over the world who arrive at the border.
Vivek Suri, the attorney arguing on the opposing side of Al Otro Lado, tried to claim that an individual seeking asylum must illegally cross first for it to apply, while the opposing argument is that it applies when you arrive at the border, even if it is on the Mexican side.
The results of this case will dictate whether the current presidential administration and its appointees are allowed to stop the flow of asylum applications.
The issue is that while people await answers, they are vulnerable to detention and even removal, Parker said.
For Omar, the uncertainty is deeply personal. He already waited before entering the United States and now must remain in the country amid political changes in Venezuela. He does not know when he will see his two teenage sons again or when he will be able to practice criminal law again.
Currently, Omar works making Pokémon cards despite being college-educated — a reality shared by many displaced immigrants in the United States.
“I invite you to go to any factory, any company, any place where there’s a large Venezuelan workforce, and sit down with each one and ask them what they do, what they did in Venezuela. I dare say that 95% will tell you they’re professionals,” Omar said.
Omar’s parents, Syrian immigrants to Venezuela, left their country for reasons similar to his own. Two years ago, in March, Omar followed that same path. Though thankful to the United States for the chance to support his sons, he said his sense of belonging remains tied to Venezuela — a life he would not have left had the situation been different.
People seeking asylum don’t choose to leave their lives without reason. Parker helps those like Homsi live and stay in the U.S. Most of their clients are based in North Carolina or were in North Carolina when the clinic began representing them.
“I miss Venezuela. I miss its food. I miss my children. I miss my friends. I miss my city. I miss everything about my country,” Omar said.
Professor Caitlin Andrews-Lee, of political science at UNC-Chapel Hill, was at a panel discussing U.S. intervention in Venezuela. She said that one of the reasons the current Trump administration gave for intervening in the country was to reduce Venezuelan migration.
The administration not only issued policy memos restricting access to asylum but also attempted to target the causes of immigration. In doing so, the shifting landscape causes some to fall through the cracks.
Despite the unknown, Bishop, Parker and the rest of the clinic continue to try to file asylum cases and applications, working to give their clients the strongest possible chance. Still, Bishop remains certain of one thing.
“Many people who are here who are not U.S. citizens are here for the same reasons other people’s families came here long ago,” she said. “And it’s trying to be a good person, trying to work hard, trying to help their family – are not criminals. They are human beings and merit being treated with the respect and dignity that we would all want.”
Reporting contributed by Karen Zhu
