Bronx Asylum Lawyers

Last Updated on: 11th October 2025, 11:05 am

Bronx Asylum Lawyers

The asylum office scheduled your interview for 9:00 AM. You arrive at 8:30. They call you at 11:45. Three hours waiting in a government building with no explanation for the delay. Then a 45-minute interview where an asylum officer asks about the worst moments of your life through an interpreter. Two weeks later: Request for Evidence. They want more documentation you cant obtain from the country you fled.

This is affirmative asylum – filing with USCIS before you’re in removal proceedings. Different from defensive asylum where you’re already fighting deportation in immigration court. Most asylum articles focus on court proceedings. This one focuses on both pathways because Bronx asylum seekers use both.

Affirmative Asylum Process

You file Form I-589 with the asylum office. They schedule an interview months later – currently 6-12 month wait times. Interview lasts 30 minutes to 2 hours.

The asylum officer asks about your persecution claims, reviews documents, assesses credibility. Then you wait. Three possible outcomes: granted, referred to immigration court, or denied and referred if you have no lawful status.

When Cases Get Referred to Court

If the asylum officer doesn’t grant your case, you get referred to immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza. You’re not denied – you get a second chance before an immigration judge. But now you’re in removal proceedings.

Bronx resident from Albania filed affirmative asylum last year. Claimed persecution based on blood feud. Strong evidence – family members killed, sworn statements from witnesses, country conditions documentation. Asylum officer didn’t grant it. Referred to immigration court. We’re now in defensive proceedings – individual hearing scheduled 18 months out. Looking at 2+ years total. Case is still pending.

Defensive Asylum in Immigration Court

If you’re already in removal proceedings – ICE arrested you, overstayed a visa, entered without inspection – you file asylum as a defense against deportation. Case goes to 26 Federal Plaza.

The court serves Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island. Massive backlog. Individual hearings scheduled 2-3 years out. Judge assignment is random – grant rates vary wildly between judges.

The One-Year Filing Deadline

Must file asylum within one year of arriving in the United States. This deadline bars thousands of otherwise-valid claims. Exceptions exist – changed circumstances or extraordinary circumstances – but they’re narrow and judges interpret them inconsistently.

We had a client from Dominican Republic who arrived in 2020, filed in 2023. Three years late. He claimed extraordinary circumstances – didn’t speak English, didn’t know about the deadline, had untreated depression from trauma. Immigration judge rejected all three explanations. Said depression alone without professional diagnosis at the time doesnt constitute extraordinary circumstances. Denied asylum. He’s now pursuing withholding of removal instead – higher burden of proof, no path to green card. Pending.

Bronx Communities and Asylum Patterns

Dominican asylum seekers in the Bronx file claims based on gang violence, political persecution, domestic violence. Gang violence claims face legal complexity – must establish particular social group, government inability to protect, nexus to protected ground.

Albanian Blood Feud Claims

We see Albanian asylum claims based on traditional blood feuds – family honor killings following the Kanun code. These claims require extensive cultural context evidence. Many judges don’t understand how blood feuds operate, why police can’t or won’t intervene, why internal relocation isn’t possible.

We worked with an expert witness on Albanian customary law. Expert report cost $4,500. Hearing lasted four hours. Judge asked detailed questions about Kanun traditions, reconciliation committees, whether our client could relocate to Tirana. Decision? Still pending after 8 months.

West African Political Persecution

Bronx has growing West African communities. We handle asylum cases for opposition political activists, journalists, people who participated in protests. These cases depend heavily on country conditions evidence – State Department reports, news articles, human rights documentation.

Client from Guinea participated in anti-government protests in 2021. Government crackdown – protesters shot, arrested, disappeared. He fled to the U.S., filed asylum within the one-year deadline. Strong case on paper. But at his asylum interview, the officer focused on why he didn’t file a police report after being beaten. He explained police were the ones who beat him. Officer seemed skeptical. Referred to court. We’re preparing for individual hearing next year.

Credibility Problems That Destroy Cases

Asylum officers and immigration judges decide cases primarily on credibility. Inconsistencies between your written application and interview testimony kill cases even when the persecution actually happened.

Your application says you were arrested in March. At your interview you say April. The officer finds you not credible based on that one-month discrepancy. Explanation that you were traumatized and dates are hard to remember? Doesn’t always matter.

Cultural Barriers to Credibility

Asylum officers and judges expect certain demeanor – showing emotion when describing trauma, making eye contact, providing detailed chronological narratives. But cultural norms vary. Some cultures don’t display emotion publicly. Some don’t make direct eye contact with authority figures.

We prepare clients extensively. Mock interviews. Line-by-line review of applications. But we can’t always predict what will strike an officer or judge as incredible.

Documentation Challenges

Every asylum case requires extensive evidence. Police reports from your home country. Medical records. Newspaper articles. Letters from witnesses. Country conditions reports.

Here’s the problem – you fled persecution. You didn’t stop to gather documents. Your family still in the country is afraid to help. Police reports don’t exist because police were the persecutors.

When RFEs Demand Impossible Evidence

Request for Evidence: “Provide police report documenting the attack on your family.” Your family members were killed by police. There is no police report. You submit a declaration explaining this. RFE response: “Provide death certificates.” Death certificates require government documentation you can’t obtain while in exile.

Sometimes explanations work. Sometimes they don’t.

Asylum vs Withholding vs CAT

If you don’t qualify for asylum – missed the one-year deadline, have a criminal conviction that bars asylum – you can still pursue withholding of removal or Convention Against Torture protection.

Withholding requires proving it’s more likely than not you’ll be persecuted – higher standard than asylum’s well-founded fear. Available even if you missed the deadline. Doesn’t lead to green card, doesn’t allow family reunification, but prevents deportation to the country where you’d face persecution.

CAT Protection

Convention Against Torture requires proving it’s more likely than not you’ll be tortured by or with government acquiescence. Very high standard. Available even with serious criminal convictions that bar both asylum and withholding.

We won CAT for a client from Honduras last year. Aggravated felony conviction – barred from asylum and withholding. Former police officer who reported corruption, testified against colleagues, received death threats. We showed he’d likely be tortured if returned. Immigration judge granted CAT protection.

But here’s the reality of CAT – he stays in the U.S., cannot be removed to Honduras, but no path to green card or citizenship. Work authorization renewed yearly. ICE can detain him anytime. Better than torture. Not great.

After Asylum Is Granted

If granted asylum, you can apply for a green card one year later. File Form I-485. No visa number required. Processing takes 12-24 months.

Asylee green card holders must be careful about travel. Cannot use home country passport. Cannot travel to home country – doing so creates presumption you no longer fear persecution. Must obtain refugee travel document from USCIS before any international travel.

What We Do

I’m Todd Spodek. My father practiced immigration law before me. Spodek Law Group has over 50 years combined experience representing Bronx asylum seekers. We prepare I-589 applications for affirmative asylum filings. We represent clients at asylum office interviews. We defend against removal in immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza. We gather country conditions evidence, work with expert witnesses, prepare clients for immigration court testimony.

High-profile cases include Anna Delvey – the Netflix series. Featured in The New York Times, Newsweek, Bloomberg. We handle asylum cases for Bronx residents. Dominican families fleeing violence. Albanian families escaping blood feuds. West African political activists. Call us. We’re available 24/7.