Question

Asylees who have applied for asylum defensively

Answer 1

In 1948 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed the right of individuals “to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution” [ref]. Asylum is a form of protection offered to people fleeing from persecution based on the following personal characteristics:
race
politics
nationality
religion
membership in a social group
According to the Refugee Act of 1980, anyone may apply for asylum, no matter his or her alien status.
Unlike other forms of immigration, asylum has no quotas or limits on number of visas -- the person requesting asylum, the asylee, simply has to demonstrate a “well-founded fear” of persecution in his or her home country. However, an asylum seeker must apply within one year of arriving in the U.S. or at a U.S. border or point-of-entry, and he or she cannot reapply for asylum if a previous application was denied by a judge. Changed circumstances can also affect asylum status -- for example, if there has been a regime change in the asylee’s country of origin that would make returning to the country more or less safe.

Answer 2

Defensive Asylum
If someone requests asylum to defend against being deported from the U.S., then he or she is said to be pursuing defensive asylum. Someone can end up in the defensive asylum process if he or she was referred to an immigration judge by an asylum officer who didn’t grant asylum. A person may also be placed in the defensive asylum process if put in removal proceedings because he or she was living undocumented in the U.S., violated his or her immigration status or was caught trying to enter the country without correct documentation but has a “credible fear of persecution or torture” [­ref].
With defensive asylum, immigration judges hear cases in an adversarial manner (meaning in a courtroom), and the U.S. government is represented by a lawyer. The immigration judge determines if the applicant is eligible for asylum. If the judge rules against asylum, he or she decides if the applicant can avoid removal through any other process or if the applicant must be removed from the U.S.

Answer 3

Hope I helped!