How should you answer and can your answer get you in prison?

I have not seen your filing, but if you explained why you need asylum, that should be enough. Also, unless you filed online, it is really not possible to supplement an affirmative case until the interview is scheduled, as they will likely lose whatever you mail them. It is a good idea to collect your evidence, so you can submit it once an interview is scheduled, since they do not give a lot of notice prior to the interview. Take care, Jason

I am not sure whether the denial of a T visa will result in referral to court. I suspect that it will not, but I have not done such a case and I am not sure. Take care, Jason

So far, there have not been policy changes that affect eligibility for LGBT asylum. However, there have been changes that affect immigrants in general and it is now more difficult to get to the US. Also, people arriving at the border seem to be unable to claim asylum. Take care, Jason

As long as you return before the RTD expires, you should be fine, though keep an eye out for any travel ban, just in case that happens. Also, remember that to qualify for the GC, you need to have one complete year inside the US at the time USCIS makes the decision on the I-485, and so if you will not have the full 365 days inside the US, you may need to stay in the US longer to meet that requirement. Take care, Jason

This post talks about a memo to the EOIR, but are there any known patterns that would generally transfer policies/memos to USCIS for affirmative asylum folks? My situation got significantly worse after the filing, with family members tried and sentenced, and none of that new information is currently attached to the case. My attorney says we will have time to send in the new evidence between the notice and the interview, but articles like yours make me anxious every time I come across them. I worry that our initial filing might not satisfy the new raised bar to be considered, because none of the updates are in the filing.

Are my concerns reasonable, or am I overthinking it? How different are USCIS and EOIR in terms of their policies on that matter?

Thank you.

Dear Jason,
I am now living in Africa. I had plans to travel to USA to seek asylum. In my country LGBTQ is a serious crime and being so in public could get me detained. Furthermore, civilians living here disapprove of it. They had campaigns that swore to kill any LGBTQ members here in our country. I am part of an LGBTQ group and I wanted to know if trump’s new policy limited access to LGBTQ asylum seekers. Do you think it’s better to consider another credible fear of persecution for my interview? Please respond to my question!