Source
(June 27, 1952, ch. 477, title II, ch. 1, § 208, as added Pub. L. 96–212, title II, § 201(b), Mar. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 105; amended Pub. L. 101–649, title V, § 515(a)(1), Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 5053; Pub. L. 103–322, title XIII, § 130005(b), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2028; Pub. L. 104–132, title IV, § 421(a), Apr. 24, 1996, 110 Stat. 1270; Pub. L. 104–208, div. C, title VI, § 604(a), Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009–690; Pub. L. 107–56, title IV, § 411(b)(2), Oct. 26, 2001, 115 Stat. 348; Pub. L. 107–208, § 4, Aug. 6, 2002, 116 Stat. 928; Pub. L. 109–13, div. B, title I, § 101(a), (b), May 11, 2005, 119 Stat. 302, 303; Pub. L. 110–229, title VII, § 702(j)(4), May 8, 2008, 122 Stat. 866; Pub. L. 110–457, title II, § 235(d)(7), Dec. 23, 2008, 122 Stat. 5080.)
Amendments
2008—Subsec. (a)(2)(E).
Pub. L. 110–457, § 235(d)(7)(A), added subpar. (E).
Subsec. (b)(3)(C).
Pub. L. 110–457, § 235(d)(7)(B), added subpar. (C).
Subsec. (e).
Pub. L. 110–229 added subsec. (e).
2005—Subsec. (b)(1).
Pub. L. 109–13, § 101(a)(1), (2), designated existing provisions as subpar. (A), inserted subpar. heading, and substituted “The Secretary of Homeland Security or the Attorney General” for “The Attorney General” and “the Secretary of Homeland Security or the Attorney General” for “the Attorney General” in two places.
Subsec. (b)(1)(B).
Pub. L. 109–13, § 101(a)(3), added subpar. (B)
Subsec. (b)(2)(A)(v).
Pub. L. 109–13, § 101(b), substituted “described in” for “inadmissible under” in two places and struck out “removable under” before “section
1227
(a)(4)(B)”.
2002—Subsec. (b)(3).
Pub. L. 107–208 reenacted heading without change and amended text generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “A spouse or child (as defined in section
1101
(b)(1)(A), (B), (C), (D), or (E) of this title) of an alien who is granted asylum under this subsection may, if not otherwise eligible for asylum under this section, be granted the same status as the alien if accompanying, or following to join, such alien.”
2001—Subsec. (b)(2)(A)(v).
Pub. L. 107–56 substituted “(III), (IV), or (VI)” for “(III), or (IV)”.
1996—
Pub. L. 104–208 substituted “Asylum” for “Asylum procedure” as section catchline and amended text generally, substituting subsecs. (a) to (d) for former subsecs. (a) to (e).
Subsec. (a).
Pub. L. 104–132, § 421(a), inserted at end “The Attorney General may not grant an alien asylum if the Attorney General determines that the alien is excludable under subclause (I), (II), or (III) of section
1182
(a)(3)(B)(i) of this title or deportable under section
1251
(a)(4)(B) of this title, unless the Attorney General determines, in the discretion of the Attorney General, that there are not reasonable grounds for regarding the alien as a danger to the security of the United States.”
1994—Subsec. (e).
Pub. L. 103–322 added subsec. (e).
1990—Subsec. (d).
Pub. L. 101–649 added subsec. (d).
Effective Date of 2008 Amendment
Amendment by
Pub. L. 110–229 effective on the transition program effective date described in section
1806 of Title
48, Territories and Insular Possessions, see section 705(b) of
Pub. L. 110–229, set out as an Effective Date note under section
1806 of Title
48.
Effective Date of 2005 Amendment
Pub. L. 109–13, div. B, title I, § 101(h)(1), (2), May 11, 2005,
119 Stat. 305, provided that:
“(1) The amendments made by paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) [amending this section] shall take effect as if enacted on March 1, 2003.
“(2) The amendments made by subsections (a)(3), (b), (c), and (d) [amending this section and sections
1229a and
1231 of this title] shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this division [May 11, 2005] and shall apply to applications for asylum, withholding, or other relief from removal made on or after such date.”
Effective Date of 2002 Amendment
Amendment by
Pub. L. 107–208 effective Aug. 6, 2002, and applicable to certain beneficiary aliens, see section 8 of
Pub. L. 107–208, set out as a note under section
1151 of this title.
Effective Date of 2001 Amendment
Amendment by
Pub. L. 107–56 effective Oct. 26, 2001, and applicable to actions taken by an alien before, on, or after Oct. 26, 2001, and to all aliens, regardless of date of entry or attempted entry into the United States, in removal proceedings on or after such date (except for proceedings in which there has been a final administrative decision before such date) or seeking admission to the United States on or after such date, with special rules and exceptions, see section 411(c) of
Pub. L. 107–56, set out as a note under section
1182 of this title.
Effective Date of 1996 Amendments
Section 604(c) of div. C of
Pub. L. 104–208 provided that: “The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall apply to applications for asylum filed on or after the first day of the first month beginning more than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Sept. 30, 1996].
Section 421(b) of
Pub. L. 104–132 provided that: “The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [Apr. 24, 1996] and apply to asylum determinations made on or after such date.”
Effective Date of 1990 Amendment
Section 515(b) of
Pub. L. 101–649, as amended by
Pub. L. 102–232, title III, § 306(a)(13), Dec. 12, 1991,
105 Stat. 1752, provided that:
“(1) The amendment made by subsection (a)(1) [amending this section] shall apply to convictions entered before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 29, 1990] and to applications for asylum made on or after such date.
“(2) The amendment made by subsection (a)(2) [amending section
1253 of this title] shall apply to convictions entered before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 29, 1990] and to applications for withholding of deportation made on or after such date.”
Effective Date
Section effective Mar. 17, 1980, and applicable to fiscal years beginning with the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 1979, see section 204 of
Pub. L. 96–212, set out as an Effective Date of 1980 Amendment note under section
1101 of this title.
Regulations
Pub. L. 110–340, § 2(d), Oct. 3, 2008,
122 Stat. 3736, provided that:
“(1) Issuance of regulations.—Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 3, 2008], the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall promulgate final regulations establishing that, for purposes of sections 241(b)(3)(B)(iii) and 208(b)(2)(A)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (
8 U.S.C.
1231
(b)(3)(B)(iii);
8 U.S.C.
1158
(b)(2)(A)(iii)), an alien who is deportable under section 237(a)(4)(F) of such Act (
8 U.S.C.
1227
(a)(4)(F)) or inadmissible under section 212(a)(3)(G) of such Act (
8 U.S.C.
1182
(a)(3)(G)) shall be considered an alien with respect to whom there are serious reasons to believe that the alien committed a serious nonpolitical crime.
“(2) Authority to waive certain regulatory requirements.—The requirements of chapter
5 of title
5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the ‘Administrative Procedure Act’), chapter
35 of title
44, United States Code (commonly referred to as the ‘Paperwork Reduction Act’), or any other law relating to rulemaking, information collection, or publication in the Federal Register, shall not apply to any action to implement paragraph (1) to the extent the Attorney General or the Secretary Homeland of [sic] Security determines that compliance with any such requirement would impede the expeditious implementation of such paragraph.”
Abolition of Immigration and Naturalization Service and Transfer of Functions
For abolition of Immigration and Naturalization Service, transfer of functions, and treatment of related references, see note set out under section
1551 of this title.
Expeditious Removal for Denied Asylum Applicants
Section 130005 of
Pub. L. 103–322, as amended by
Pub. L. 104–208, div. C, title III, § 308(e)(1)(P), (17), Sept. 30, 1996,
110 Stat. 3009–620, 3009–621, provided:
“(a) In General.—The Attorney General may provide for the expeditious adjudication of asylum claims and the expeditious removal of asylum applicants whose applications have been finally denied, unless the applicant remains in an otherwise valid nonimmigrant status.
“(b) Employment Authorization.—[Amended this section.]
“(c) Authorization of Appropriations.—There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section—
“(1) $64,000,000 for fiscal year 1995;
“(2) $90,000,000 for fiscal year 1996;
“(3) $93,000,000 for fiscal year 1997; and
“(4) $91,000,000 for fiscal year 1998.”
Time for Establishment of Asylum Procedure by Attorney General
Section 204(d)(2) of
Pub. L. 96–212 provided that: “The Attorney General shall establish the asylum procedure referred to in section 208(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (as added by section
201
(b) of this title) [former subsec. (a) of this section] not later than June 1, 1980.”