A federal court on Wednesday struck down most of a Trump administration policy that sought to deny asylum to immigrants seeking safety from domestic or gang-related violence in their home countries, reports VOA News.
In June, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions personally intervened in the case of a Salvadoran woman known as A-B, denying her asylum as the victim of domestic abuse and releasing expedited removal proceedings that instructed asylum officers to “generally” deny immigrants the initial credible-fear screening if their asylum claims were based on domestic or gang-related violence.
Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court in Washington permanently enjoined Sessions’ order, saying it violated U.S. immigration law and that there was “no legal basis for an effective categorical ban.”
Under U.S. law, newly arrived immigrants who express fear of returning to their homes must be given a screening interview to determine credible fear. Those who pass the interview are allowed to pursue their asylum claims in immigration court.
Said Sullivan in his 107-page ruling, “It is the will of Congress — not the whims of the Executive — that determines the standard for expedited removal.”
The American Civil Liberties Union brought the lawsuit on behalf of 12 plaintiffs, half of whom were hurriedly deported under the order.
“Under the new policies, even though government officials found the accounts credible, they concluded the women did not have a ‘credible fear of persecution’ and ordered them to be sent back to the countries where they face grave harm,” the ACLU said in a statement.
Jurisdiction questioned
During a November court hearing, government attorneys had asserted that the U.S. District Court did not have jurisdiction to rule on immigration and should therefore allow the administration’s guidelines to stay in place.
Jennifer Chang Newell, ACLU managing attorney for the Immigrants’ Rights Project, held that the “attorney general does not have the right to issue expedited removal.”
At the time, the ACLU requested that the court suspend the expedited-removal rule, bring back the six immigrants that had already been deported and grant new proceedings to all 12 immigrants.
Sullivan granted all three requests, blocking the government from “removing plaintiffs who are currently in the United States without first providing credible-fear determinations consistent with the immigration laws.” He also ordered that the plaintiffs who had been deported be returned and given new credible-fear interviews.
“This ruling is a defeat for the Trump administration’s all-out assault on the rights of asylum-seekers,” Chang Newell said, adding that Sessions’ order was “inconsistent with our country’s long-standing commitment to provide protection to immigrants fleeing for their lives.”
Department of Justice spokesman Steve Stafford reacted differently.
“Under the laws passed by Congress, asylum is only for those who have a legitimate fear of persecution on the basis of their race, nationality, religion, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. Attorney General Sessions’ ruling in Matter of A-B was about following that requirement. We are reviewing our options with regard to this ruling, and we will continue to restore the rule of law in our immigration system.”
“The government is sure to appeal this decision. In the meantime, however, the federal court ruling ensures that people fleeing domestic violence or gang violence will have a fair shot at proving they qualify for asylum,” Cornell University Law School professor Stephen Yale-Loehr said in a statement.
Flynn case
Sullivan also presided in the case of Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser. On Tuesday, Sullivan delayed sentencing Flynn, whose crimes aroused “my disgust, my disdain.”
In keeping with his disdain of government overreach, Sullivan had another moment during an August hearing in the asylum case. When he learned that the government was in the process of deporting a plaintiff in the case and her daughter, he ordered the plane turned around.
Sullivan “FURTHER ORDERED that in the event that the Defendants do not fully comply with this Order, Defendants Attorney General Jefferson Sessions III; Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service Director Lee Francis Cissna; and Executive Office of Immigration Review Director James McHenry, preferably accompanied by their attorneys, shall be ORDERED to appear in Court to SHOW CAUSE why they should not be held in CONTEMPT OF COURT; and it is FURTHER ORDERED that the Defendants shall file a status report on the docket in this case by no later than 5:00 pm August 10, 2018, informing the Court of the Defendants’ compliance with this Order.”