About Our Asylum Clinic

Tens of thousands of individuals flee human rights violations in their home countries and seek asylum in the United States every year. Currently, less than 40% are ultimately granted protective status. While the immigration legal system places a heavy burden on asylum applicants, access to evidence is challenging, and many rely solely on their own testimony. Forensic evaluations introduce reliable evidence of trauma or torture into the proceedings, providing access to evidence for asylum seekers and trustworthy information for fact-finders. There is enormous demand for this evidence by immigration attorneys but the costs of expert testimony are often out of reach for asylum seekers.  Physicians for Human Rights’ Asylum Program facilitates pro bono forensic evaluations, and often partners with medical school asylum clinics to do so.
By creating asylum clinics at their associated medical centers, medical students and licensed clinicians can address a gap in services for a vulnerable population and create a practice community for forensic work. Students play a substantial role in the asylum seeker’s case by drafting the affidavit. This degree of engagement helps create the next generation of evaluators.
Asylum clinics also serve as foundations for advocacy and for service provision in their communities. Through associations with academic institutions, each asylum clinic serves as a direct liaison between the asylum-seeker population and a community of passionate students and academic faculty. This allows students in medical schools and throughout universities to create educational events and to engage in advocacy activities. Through their involvement in an asylum clinic, faculty have the opportunity to reach a truly unique and underserved community.