Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.

By: James Porter

According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), an asylum seeker is “a person who has left their country of origin, has applied for recognition as a refugee in another country, and is awaiting a decision on their application.”  There is often much attention paid to refugees by those in the nonprofit sector.  However, asylum seekers are unique from refugees and face unique challenges of their own such as detention in the U.S. and the uncertainty of the asylum adjudication process.