By Ted Hesson ~ Politico ~ August 9, 2018
A federal judge on Thursday blocked the deportation of eight asylum seekers who claimed to have experienced domestic violence or gang threats in their home countries.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said in court Thursday that it was unacceptable that the Trump administration had placed plaintiffs in the case — a mother and daughter — on a flight to Central America, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the asylum seekers.
Sullivan, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, ordered the plane apparently carrying the family to be rerouted back to the United States, the ACLU said in a related statement.
The Washington, D.C.-based judge also suggested that Attorney General Jeff Sessions could be held in contempt over the deportation, according to the ACLU.
The case centers on a June decision by Sessions to deny asylum claims from alleged victims of domestic violence and gangs.
The ACLU argued in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that asylum seekers with violence-based claims had been slated for rapid deportation without a fair process to prove they had “credible fear” of persecution in their home country, the first hurdle toward asylum.
“In its rush to deport as many immigrants as possible, the Trump administration is putting these women and children in grave danger of being raped, beaten, or killed,” ACLU attorney Jennifer Chang Newell said in a written statement.
Ted Hesson ~ Politico ~ August 9, 2018
