Beyond Borders: The Immigration Evaluation Podcast

Do psychological evaluations still matter under the new USCIS policy? I'm joined today by Maria Lurye, who served on the immigration bench in New York from 2017 through 2025, and has reviewed hundreds of evaluations across asylum, VAWA, U and T visa, and cancellation of removal cases. Before taking the bench, she spent nearly a decade as assistant chief counsel with ICE, litigating removal cases a...

Immigration evaluations ask you to take everything you already know, like how to assess trauma, document psychological impact, and write a clinical report, and translate it into language that can determine whether someone is deported, separated from their children, or returned to a place where they were harmed. If you've ever been curious about what this work actually involves, this episode will g...

I just returned from presenting at the Federal Bar Association Immigration Conference, and what I learned there matters for every clinician doing immigration evaluations right now. Attorneys are scrutinizing reports more carefully than ever, not because they don't trust you, but because the stakes are higher and the margin for error is smaller. The landscape is shifting in significant ways. Your r...

Your role is to educate adjudicators about trauma science, not to advocate. And when done well, forensic mental health reports can increase approval rates from 42% to 82%. In this episode, I sit down with Professor Raquel Aldana, the Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law at UC Davis and a scholar who has spent years examining the intersection of immigration law, trauma science, and credibility a...

Understanding what makes your clinical methodology sound gives you confidence in every evaluation you conduct. You are the expert on clinical methodology. And when your methods are grounded in clinical training, ethically sound, and clearly explained, they meet the legal standard. In this episode, I break down what the Federal Rules of Evidence actually say about expert testimony, why I like to th...

The way you conduct an immigration evaluation can either recreate the powerlessness your client experienced during their trauma, or it can restore a sense of agency and safety they desperately need. In this episode, I walk through the core principles of trauma-informed interviewing in immigration evaluations.  You'll learn how to: ✅ Give clients control from the moment they walk in ✅ Structure t...

Reading your client's declaration before the evaluation could save you from weeks of report revisions and protect the case from credibility issues. Not reading it could mean you're retraumatizing your client by forcing them to repeat graphic details that are already documented. So which approach is right? This question comes up constantly in training and consultation, and the answer isn't what mos...

When an immigration judge or USCIS officer is reviewing a case, they're often looking for evidence that goes beyond legal arguments. That's where we come in. As immigration evaluators, we translate human suffering into clinically grounded, legally relevant documentation. And when we do this well—when the evaluation is thorough, objective, and clearly tied to legal standards—it can carry enormous w...

Competency in immigration court is not the same as competency in criminal court, and misunderstanding that difference can have serious consequences. In this episode, you'll learn: What competency actually means in immigration proceedings Why it is so often misunderstood by clinicians How immigration competency evaluations differ from anything most of us were trained to do I explain when competency...

Asylum evaluations are changing, and many clinicians are being asked to assess functioning and vulnerability, not trauma. In this episode, Mariela breaks down a growing trend in asylum cases where individuals did not flee persecution or experience past trauma, but now face removal despite serious psychological, cognitive, or developmental vulnerabilities.  These cases require a different clinical...

If you've ever wondered how immigration judges actually read and use psychological evaluations, today's episode is for you. Former immigration judge and USCIS asylum office supervisor David Koelsch shares what truly makes an evaluation credible, useful, and persuasive in immigration court. Drawing on decades of experience reviewing hundreds of evaluations, he explains what judges notice first, why...

If you've ever worried whether your immigration evaluations are truly meeting what attorneys and judges need, this episode will change how you practice. Psychologist and researcher Dr. Andrew Rasmussen is leading the first national, empirically grounded study on what makes psychological evaluations effective in immigration court. He breaks down what attorneys consistently say they want, what they...

When a client's fear sounds irrational on paper, it can quietly undermine their credibility, even when the emotion behind it is completely valid. This episode explores how to translate those fears into clear, compassionate language that preserves both emotional truth and clinical accuracy. Using real examples of clients who catastrophize medical results or describe relocation in dramatic terms, yo...

Testifying in immigration court can feel intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. Retired Army behavioral health officer and clinical social worker Gabrielle Bryan, LCSW, shares how she developed confidence as an expert witness and what mental health professionals can do to prepare for court with clarity and calm. Drawing on her 20 years in military behavioral health and her full-time immigration...

Psychological immigration evaluations require clinicians to walk a fine line: include enough detail to be objective and credible, but avoid irrelevant information that could harm a client's immigration case. This episode explores how to make those tough judgment calls in private practice, guided by the APA Ethics Code and forensic psychology standards. You'll hear how to apply a "relevance and nec...

Urgent demand for psychological immigration evaluations is reshaping the work of clinicians across the U.S.—and this episode dives deep into how to meet that need with skill, compassion, and sustainability. Dr. Lynn Moore, a forensic psychologist and founder of Impact, the Immigration Psychology Access Team, shares how her nonprofit has built a team of 21 clinicians providing high-quality, trauma-...

What clinicians need to know before stepping behind the gates to conduct psychological immigration evaluations in U.S. detention centers. This episode pulls back the curtain on the logistics, risks, ethics, and emotional realities of working inside immigration detention facilities. From preparing for competency and asylum evaluations to navigating clearance protocols, restricted environments, and...

Master's level clinicians and pre-licensed therapists are not disqualified from conducting psychological immigration evaluations—here's what actually determines your eligibility and credibility. Far too many skilled clinicians assume they can't break into immigration evaluation work without a doctorate or license, but that's simply not true. This episode dispels common myths and gives mental healt...

Psychological evaluations are playing an increasingly critical role in immigration cases—from cancellation of removal to VAWA and hardship waivers—and clinicians in private practice need to be ready. In this part 2 episode, Attorney Jacob J. Sapochnick returns to share real-world insights from his practice, including how a 25-year-old conviction can derail a client's life, and how clinicians can h...

Immigration evaluations that actually help clients start with understanding what attorneys need. This episode dives into exactly how clinicians can collaborate effectively with immigration attorneys to write legally impactful psychological evaluations. Mariela speaks with attorney Jacob J. Sapochnick about what USCIS and immigration courts are really looking for in hardship evaluations, the legal...

A routine U Visa evaluation turns into a high-stakes scramble when a client's DUI history is revealed mid-interview—shifting the focus from trauma assessment to evidence of rehabilitation. Clinicians conducting psychological immigration evaluations must understand the legal nuances behind each case or risk producing unusable reports.  This real-world scenario illustrates how quickly an immigration...

Burned-out clinicians are getting time back while growing their income by shifting from traditional therapy models to psychological immigration evaluations. This episode tells the story of a therapist who reduced her caseload from 20 weekly therapy clients to just 2 immigration evaluations per week, maintaining her income while regaining her work/life balance.  We explore how this pivot into U.S....

US Immigration implemented major policy changes to the N-648 disability process on June 13, 2025. Mental health professionals conducting psychological immigration evaluations must now meet stricter standards and ensure clinical consistency to avoid serious consequences.  We unpack how these changes impact the documentation of cognitive, psychiatric, and developmental disabilities, what counts as "...

Writing immigration evaluation reports doesn't have to be overwhelming—these 5 streamlined steps will help you write psychological evaluation reports faster, stay organized, and deliver clear, effective documentation that supports your client's case. In this episode, you'll learn a method that transforms report writing from a dreaded task into a structured, manageable process. You'll discover how...

A Honduran family's journey from the 2018 migrant caravan to unexpected refuge in Seattle reveals the hidden emotional toll of asylum, separation, and survival—and the rare support that helped them heal. Filmmaker Cady Voge captures it all in All We Carry , blending firsthand footage, intimate storytelling, and hard truths about what it really means to flee violence and rebuild. We explore what di...