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Allard speaks to law librarians about refugee protection
By CSLR | Emory Law | Nov 9, 2017 12:11:00 AM

Silas Allard, CSLR Associate Director and Harold J. Berman Senior Fellow in Law and Religion, spoke at the annual conference of the International Association of Law Libraries on Global and Local Challenges to Refugee Protection. He addressed claims that the United States asylum application process is rampant with fraud, particularly the "credible fear review" immigration officials conduct to determine whether the asylum applicant meets the credible fear standard. Allard discussed displacement causes such as climate change and gang violence that the Refugee Convention does not specifically list. Instead of recognizing gang violence, the U.S. attorney general considers legal arguments supporting gang culture as a legitimate fear to be an abuse of the asylum process. Allard said the global challenge is also the local challenge: a narrow, legal interpretation of the Refugee Convention that needs to be more flexible to deal with newer challenges. Go here for more information.