Gallagher Law Library - UW School of Law

Asylum Research

Updated March 2, 2010.
Prepared by Mary Whisner for Immigration Law.

Research Guides

Immigration Law Research

Lourdes Fuentes & Ann Hemmens, Immigration Law, chapter 8 in Specialized Legal Research (2004 Supp.). KF240.S63 1987 at Reference Area & Reference Office
A comprehensive guide to immigration law research generally.

CALS Asylum Case Research Guide
Guide prepared for Georgetown’s Center for Applied Legal Studies, an asylum law clinic. Provides introduction to asylum research; links to 10 research guides (from various organizations) on immigration, asylum, and country research.

Government Websites

U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) website provides valuable resources, including:

  • Immigration and Nationality Act �� 208, 101(a)(42)
  • 8 CFR Part 208 -- Procedures for Asylum and Withholding of Removal
  • I-589 form, Application for Asylum and Withholding of Removal
  • Affirmative Asylum Procedures Manual (Nov. 2007)
  • Asylum Resources
    •

    U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office of Immigration Review

  • EOIR Virtual Law Library
  • Asylum statistics by nationality, from 1997 to date
    •

    U.S. State Department, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

    Books & Videos

    Deborah E. Anker, The Law of Asylum in the United States, 3d ed. (1999, with 2002 supp.). KF4836.L3 1999 at Classified Stacks

    David A. Martin, Asylum Case Law Sourcebook: Master Index and Case Abstracts for U.S. Court Decisions, 7th ed. (2007). KF4836.A53 M37 2007 at Reference Area

    Robert Jobe, Mark Silverman & Larry Katzman, Winning Asylum Cases (1998 looseleaf, with 2004 supp.). KF4836.W56 1998 at Reference Area

    Best Practices in Representing Asylum-Seekers: A Video Resource for Pro Bono Attorneys (2 DVDs). KF4836.Z9 B47 2004 at Classified Stacks. Accompanying written materials

    Collection of International Instruments and Legal Texts Concerning Refugees and Others of Concern to UNHCR (2007). K3230.R45 C65 2007  v.1-4 at Reference Area. Available online.

    Guy S. Goodwin-Gill and Jane McAdam, The Refugee in International Law (3d ed. 2007). K3230 .G66 2007 at Classified Stacks.

    Well-Founded Fear: The Sundance Cut (DVD). KF4836.W45 2000 at Classified Stacks

    Well-Founded Fear: Discussion Modules: Tales from Real Life (video with discussion guide). KF4836.W455 2004 at Classified Stacks

    Well-Founded Fear: Training Modules: Practicing Asylum Law (video with facilitator’s guide). KF4836.W456 2004 at Classified Stacks

    See also:

    • Georgetown’s guide on Asylum Law and Procedure and Asylum Resources
    • AILA's Asylum Primer: A Practical Guide to U.S. Asylum Law and Procedure, 4th ed. (American Immigration Lawyers Association, 2005). KF4836.G47 2005 at Reference Area

    Resources for Researching Country Conditions

    U.S. State Department, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Online (1993-2007), print (1980, 1982-2005). JC571.U48 at Reference Area (many volumes duplicated in Classified Stacks).

    U.S. State Department, Annual Report to Congress on International Religious Freedom (1999- ).

    UN High Commissioner for Refugees
    In left navigation bar, note "Browse by Country." Includes access to writenet country of origin reports. ("Writenet is a network of researchers and writers on human rights, forced migration, ethnic and political conflict.") Includes country maps. Once you are in a country's page, note link in right sidebar: "For human rights and legal documents from UNHCR information partners, see our Country of Origin and Legal Databases."  From the front page, you can also choose "Search Refworld."

    Human Rights Watch
    In left navigation bar, note "Info by Country."

    Amnesty International
    The best access by country might be to use the search feature in the upper right corner.

    Asylumlaw.org
    Contains lots of great resources, including country reports.

    International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
    Issues country packets that document asylum issues related to sexual orientation or HIV status, which are available at asylumlaw.org.

    University of Minnesota Human Rights Library Resources for Researching Country Conditions - country-by-country links to constitutions, human rights instruments ratified, selected country reports.

    University of Michigan Law School Refugee Caselaw Site. Summaries of cases from highest courts of Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Since 2004, the collection has been incrementally expanded to include decisions from other asylum countries, as well as the most important decisions of lower courts and tribunals in the core collection states.

    News sources in LexisNexis and Westlaw: Use U.S. sources – New York Times, Washington Post, etc. – AND use foreign news sources (e.g., AFRNEWS in Westlaw or Middle East/Africa News in LexisNexis).

    World News Connection (UW restricted)
    News reports gathered by the Foreign Broadcast Information Bureau, often transcriptions of radio and television broadcasts.

    See also the UW Libraries lists on Human Rights and International Studies.

    Organizations

    Human Rights First
    A non-profit international human rights organization based in the U.S. Current information, worldwide scope.

    Witness
    Trains human rights defenders to document abuses on video (video advocacy). Created by Peter Gabriel and the Reebok Human Rights Foundation in 1992.