Asylum seekers in the US will be made to wait for decisions on their cases in prison

The administration of US President Donald Trump 16 April took another important step that will have a strong impact on the asylum process in the United States, issuing a directive that will cause thousands of asylum seekers to remain in jail during the waiting period for their asylum decisions.

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The US Attorney General’s order, William Barr, is a step towards fulfilling the president’s promise to end the “catch and release” policy applied to migrants crossing the US border in the hope of avoiding harassment in their home countries, writes The New York Times.

The order obliges immigration judges to prevent certain immigrants from making a deposit for their release after applying for asylum, but it will not be valid for 90 days. This innovation will almost certainly be challenged in a federal court. Immigration lawyers believe that this decision could undermine the basic rights of people seeking security in the United States.

“They want to send a message that they will be detained. But we are talking about people who flee their countries to save their lives, in search of safety. And our response is to just lock them in a cell,” said Judy Rabinowitz, deputy director of the Immigrant Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union.

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Barr's order is another attempt by the Trump administration to reduce the number of immigrants who may seek asylum in the United States. The White House has already slowed down processing requests for asylum at ports of entry and ordered some asylum seekers to wait for their case decisions in Mexico. These actions are trumped by the fact that many applications for asylum are fraudulent in an attempt to obtain legal status in the United States.

For more than a decade, migrants who were able to prove the “validity of fears” of persecution in their countries at the first interview were allowed to request a pledge hearing, so they could be released on bail pending the consideration of their asylum cases. Because of the workload of immigration courts, such reviews sometimes have to wait months or even years.

A federal judge in the state of Washington this month confirmed the right of individuals with a reasonable asylum application to bail. In his decision, he stated that immigrants should be given the opportunity to demand release on bail within seven days of the request.

Barr's order concerned the case of an Indian citizen who entered the United States from Mexico and sought asylum in the country. Barr, exercising his authority as the highest official controlling immigration courts, stated that migrants in such cases are not eligible for bail.

The immigrant "after a determination of probable fear of persecution or torture, shall not be released on bail," Barr wrote in his order, which overturned a previous 2005 Board of Immigration Appeals decision on the topic.

Asylum seekers can still ask the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for release on parole, but granting such an exemption remains entirely at the discretion of the department, which Trump said has drastically reduced such exemptions.

Barr's decision does not affect migrants seeking asylum in one of two dozen ports of entry on the border with Mexico. This affects people who were detained after they illegally entered the United States, crossing the border checkpoint.

Officials say the goal of such a hard approach is to keep immigrants from entering the United States. But the previous tough decisions of the administration, some of which were blocked in the courts, could not stop the tide of those arriving.

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The influx of migrants from Central America, often represented by families with small children, creates difficulties for border patrols and authorities in communities along the south-western border. The number of detentions of illegal immigrants is far beyond the capabilities of the American border authorities, forcing some of them to be released soon after the detention.

16 April Douglas Nichols, Mayor of the border town of Yuma, Arizona declared a state of emergency because of what he called the “imminent threat” coming from “too many migrants entering our community.” Nichols said that his city needs help from the federal government and state officials.

Barr's decision may exacerbate the crisis in the already overcrowded immigrant detention centers, demanding that the judges not release bail-seekers. At his disposal on the 11 pages Barr acknowledged the reality of such a problem.

“I will delay the effective date of this decision by 90 days to allow DHS to conduct the necessary operational planning to make additional decisions about the detention and parole of migrants,” Barr wrote.

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Barr's order does not affect unaccompanied children or families who illegally enter the United States. Under the law, the government cannot detain children or families for more than 20 days.

But immigrant rights lawyers said Barr's order — if it goes into effect — could set a precedent that the government could use to deny bail hearings to even more immigrants.

Rabinowitz and other immigration lawyers said they intend to challenge Barr's decision in federal court in the near future.

Since immigration courts are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice, not the judiciary, the Attorney General is authorized to transfer cases to himself and to overturn decisions.

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