DOJ restores asylum eligibility for those fleeing domestic violence

The Justice Department on Wednesday declared immigrants fleeing domestic violence and "members of an immediate family" may once again qualify for asylum in the U.S., Buzzfeed News reports. The latest from Attorney General Merrick Garland vacates previous decisions from Jeff Sessions and William Barr, in which the former attorneys general had overturned rulings granting asylum protections to certain categories of both groups.

The DOJ's verdict, particularly in the case of domestic violence survivors, does not set new asylum standards, Buzzfeed writes, but instead favors the establishment of new "future regulations," which the Biden administration reportedly plans to unveil in the fall.

"The vacating of these decisions allows these cases to be treated like any other — fairly and without bias or prejudgement," said Karen Musalo, a professor at UC Hastings Law School, arguing that the DOJ is making strides towards "reversing the biased decision-making of the Trump administration."

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"This is a big step towards ending the confusion created by a very ill-conceived legal precedent," said an immigration judge to Buzzfeed.

Read more at Buzzfeed News.