Thousands in limbo after asylum ruling

NEW YORK: New limitations on asylum imposed by US Attorneygeneral Jeff Sessions could invalidate tens of thousands of pending claims brought by women, children and men fleeing violence in their home countries, according to immigration attorneys.

Sessions this week overturned a grant of asylum to a Salvadoran woman whose former husband raped and beat her for 15 years. The decision left immigration lawyers across the United States grappling with how to proceed for their clients.

At least 230,000 of the 711,000 cases before US immigration courts involve asylum petitions from Central America and Mexico, according to a Reuters analysis of data from the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which runs US immigration courts.

Attorneys said most claims from this region were based on domestic or gang violence. Those cases would be far harder — if not impossible — to win in light of Sessions’ decision, they said.

In a case known as the ‘‘Matter of AB’’, the attorneygeneral revoked a ruling by the Board of Immigration Appeals that carved out special protections for domestic violence victims. The decision narrowed who can qualify for asylum because they were victims of criminal activity, as opposed to government persecution.

‘‘Generally, claims by aliens pertaining to domestic violence or gang violence perpetrated by nongovernmental actors will not qualify for asylum,’’ the nation’s top law enforcement officer wrote.

Sessions’ action has left immigration lawyers uncertain about the next steps for their cases. — Reuters