VICTORY! Grace v. Barr

Last Updated

July 20, 2020

Update: VICTORY! On July 17, 2020, the D.C. Circuit vacated or limited the policies challenged in this case. You can read the Court’s opinion here.

On July 31, 2019, CLINIC joined eight other organizations that serve survivors of gender-based violence to submit an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in a case called Grace v. Barr. The Grace case challenges guidance issued by the Department of Homeland Security to implement Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s decision in Matter of A-B-, 27 I&N Dec. 316 (A.G. 2018), which attempted to announce a policy stating that asylum claims pertaining to domestic violence or gang violence will not generally qualify for asylum. A D.C.-based district judge enjoined the new policy, and the government appealed. CLINIC and other organizations argue that the injunction is legally correct and provide the court with examples of gender-based violence that merit refugee protection.