Brief of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in O.A., et al., v. Donald J. Trump

UNHCR submits this brief out of concern that the United States’ recent rule entitled Aliens Subject to a Bar on Entry Under Certain Presidential Proclamations (“Interim Asylum Rule”), 83 Fed. Reg. 55,934 (Nov. 9, 2018), constitutes a substantial change in the United States’ asylum policy that, if implemented, would be at variance with the United States’ obligations under international law. UNHCR has a strong interest in ensuring that the United States’ asylum policy remains consistent with the obligations that the United States undertook when becoming party to the 1967 Protocol, and submits this brief to offer guidance to the Court on those obligations.