Asylum Seekers Who Show Credible Fear Not Eligible for Bond

Detained asylum seekers who have shown they have a credible fear of returning to their country will no longer be able to ask a judge to grant them bond.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr decided Tuesday that asylum seekers who clear a “credible fear” interview and are facing removal don’t have the right to be released on bond by an immigration court judge while their cases are pending. The attorney general has the authority to overturn prior rulings made by immigration courts, which fall under the Justice Department.

It’s Barr’s first immigration-related decision since taking office. The American Civil Liberties Union said late Tuesday that the plan was unconstitutional and that it planned on suing.

Typically, an asylum seeker who crosses between ports of entry would have the right to ask a judge to grant them bond for release. Under the new ruling, they will have to wait in detention until their case is adjudicated.

“There will be many, many people who are not gonna even have the opportunity to apply for release now,” said Gregory Chen, director of government relations for the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Chen said that about 90 percent of asylum seekers pass their credible fear interview, the first step in seeking asylum.

The decision doesn’t affect asylum-seeking families because they generally can’t be held for longer than 20 days. It also doesn’t apply to unaccompanied minors.

Barr’s ruling takes effect in 90 days and comes amid a frustrating time for the administration as the number of border crossers has skyrocketed. Most of them are families from Central America who are fleeing violence and poverty. Many seek asylum.

There were a total of 161,000 asylum applications filed in the last fiscal year and 46,000 in the first quarter of 2019, according to the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees immigration courts.

Sarah Pierce, policy analyst for the Migration Policy Institute, said the number of decisions by immigration judges that the administration of President Donald Trump has referred to itself for review is unprecedented. The administration — under both Barr and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions — has reviewed a total of 10 immigration rulings. That’s compared to four under all of President Barack Obama’s tenure and nine during George W. Bush’s.

“This has been a really unprecedented use of power to influence the immigration system,” Pierce said.

‹

Opponents of Trump Border Emergency Close to Votes Needed

Senate opponents of President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the Mexican border have moved very close to having enough votes to prevail, and one Republican suggested the president risks a rebuff by the GOP-led chamber if he doesn’t change course. Trump’s move would “turn a border crisis into a constitutional crisis,” veteran […]

McConnell Says Trump to Sign Border Deal, Declare Emergency

President Donald Trump will sign Congress’ border security compromise, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday. The announcement removed the last ounce of suspense over the fate of a bill that would provide just a sliver of the money Trump wants to build a wall with Mexico but also would avoid a new government shutdown. […]

Border Security Brawl Seems Near a Serene Resolution

Congress is set to resolve its clattering brawl with President Donald Trump in uncommonly bipartisan fashion as lawmakers prepare to pass a border security compromise providing a mere sliver of the billions he’s demanded for a wall with Mexico and averting a rekindled government shutdown this weekend. With Trump’s halfhearted signature widely expected but hardly […]

Presented With Rise in Border Crossings, Kamala Harris Chose a Long-Term Approach to the Problem

A review of Vice President Kamala Harris’ work on immigration reveals a record more nuanced than the one presented by her critics or allies.

Mexican Officials Clear Border Camp as US Pressure Mounts To Limit Migrant Crossings

Written by VALERIE GONZALEZ A ragged migrant tent camp next to the Rio Grande is a long way from Mexico’s National Palace, where a U.S. delegation met this week with Mexico’s president seeking more action to curb the surge of migrants reaching the U.S. border. But as Mexican officials in Matamoros worked at the camp […]

France Reinforcing Its Border Controls Following Attacks

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France is reinforcing its border controls after a series of attacks that hit the country in recent weeks. Macron said the number of police and troops in charge of border controls will double from 2,400 now to 4,800. They will focus on fighting illegal immigration and smuggling […]

Trump says He’ll ‘Suspend Immigration,’ Offers No Details

President Donald Trump said Monday that he will sign an executive order “to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States” because of the coronavirus. “In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to […]

US, Mexico Officials to Begin Talks Over Tariffs, Border

Mexico launched a counteroffensive Monday against the threat of U.S. tariffs, warning not only that it hurt the economies of both countries but also would allow a quarter million more Central Americans to migrate North. A high-level delegation from the Mexican government held a press conference at the embassy in Washington, making the case against […]

Trump Makes New Threat to Send Soldiers to US-Mexico Border

President Donald Trump made a new threat Wednesday to send armed soldiers to the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump tweeted that “Mexico’s Soldiers recently pulled guns on our National Guard Soldiers, probably as a diversionary tactic for drug smugglers on the Border,” but he didn’t support the drug-smuggling claim. He tweeted: “Better not happen again! We are […]

Asylum Seekers Who Show Credible Fear Not Eligible for Bond

Detained asylum seekers who have shown they have a credible fear of returning to their country will no longer be able to ask a judge to grant them bond. U.S. Attorney General William Barr decided Tuesday that asylum seekers who clear a “credible fear” interview and are facing removal don’t have the right to be […]

›