Administrative Notice, Due Process, and the Adjudication of Asylum Claims in the United States

This Note addresses the conflict within the U.S. Courts of Appeals regarding an alien\u27s right to challenge the BIA\u27s administrative notice of a political change in an asylum seeker\u27s home country. Part I of this Note discusses U.S. asylum law standards and the procedures that an applicant must follow in seeking asylum and in appealing an adverse asylum decision. Part I also discusses the origin of administrative notice, its application in immigration proceedings, and an alien\u27s right to procedural due process. Part II examines circuit court decisions addressing whether an applicant is denied due process when the BIA takes administrative notice of a change in the political situation in an alien\u27s home country without allowing the applicant an opportunity to respond before a decision is rendered. Part III argues that current immigration procedures are inadequate and that the current BIA practice violates the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This Note concludes that an alien should be warned before the BIA takes administrative notice and permitted to challenge administratively noticed facts before the BIA renders a decision