|
Attorney General William Barr issued a ruling that will set the
standard for all immigration judges, using the same power his
predecessors Jeff Sessions and Matthew Whitaker used to try to
narrow the field of people potentially eligible for asylum.
The Trump administration is actively seeking to reduce the
number of asylum cases, saying the system is overwhelmed by
fraudulent claims. The number of people apprehended at the
U.S.-Mexico border has surged under Trump, with many Central
Americans asking for refuge in the United States even though the
vast majority of their claims are ultimately denied in court.
Unlike the federal judiciary, U.S. immigration courts fall under
Justice Department jurisdiction, and the attorney general can
intervene in cases to set national legal precedent. Trump's
attorneys general have been more active than previous
administrations in this practice. (https://tmsnrt.rs/2XmGDDg)
As part of a wider efforts to clamp down on immigration, the
Trump administration has taken a series of measures recently to
restrict asylum claims, including by issuing a rule requiring
asylum candidates first to seek safe haven in a third country.
A federal judge in San Francisco blocked the new rule last week
by issuing a preliminary injunction pending trial. The
government on Monday filed a motion asking the judge to suspend
the injunction.
In the family ties case, known as "Matter of L-E-A," Barr
overruled a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals,
finding that the board improperly ruled a Mexican was eligible
for asylum protection because the threats against him came about
only after a drug cartel first threatened his father.
Asylum law requires that claims be evaluated on a case-by-case
basis if they can show their persecution was based on race,
religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a
"particular social group."
An immigration lawyer who represented L-E-A said immigration
courts for decades have considered families to be a particular
social group, "so suddenly reversing that trend is likely to
affect thousands of cases," said Bradley Jenkins, a litigator
for Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc.
But Barr's decision found that virtually every asylum-seeker is
a member of a family and that, "There is no evidence that
Congress intended the term 'particular social group' to cast so
wide a net."
Decisions like the one Barr issued Monday can ultimately be
appealed to federal appellate courts. In December, a U.S. judge
struck down a previous Trump administration decision aimed at
denying asylum to victims of gang or domestic violence.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta in New York; Editing by Mica
Rosenberg, Alistair Bell and Dan Grebler)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
