United States Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a policy memo March 8 that revised Chapter 30.13 of the Adjudicator’s Field Manual relating to employment authorization eligibility for the abused spouses of certain nonimmigrants.
The Board of Immigration Appeals, or BIA, recently issued a decision where it concluded that individuals who cooperate with law enforcement may constitute a valid particular social group, or PSG, but only if their cooperation is public in nature and the society in question recognizes and provides protection for such cooperation. Matter of H-L-S-A-, 28 I&N Dec. 228 (BIA 2021). Its holding risks eliminating asylum eligibility for many applicants who have genuine fears of return based on having taken public actions against their potential persecutors.