Judge strikes down policy

Judge strikes down Trump policy blocking domestic violence victims from asylum

By TED HESSON

A federal judge on Wednesday struck down most of a Trump administration policy that turned away asylum seekers who claimed to suffer domestic violence or gang violence.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled that policies blocking the alleged victims from obtaining “credible fear” of return to their home country — the first step in an asylum claim — violates federal immigration law.

The decision bars the Trump administration from rapidly deporting such asylum seekers and represents another legal setback in President Donald Trump’s battle to discourage migrants from trekking to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Sullivan wrote in a detailed 107-page opinion that new credible fear policies stemming from an immigration court opinion issued in June by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions ran afoul of congressional intent.

“And because it is the will of Congress — not the whims of the executive — that determines the standard for expedited removal, the court finds that those policies are unlawful,” Sullivan wrote.

Sullivan, a D.C.-based appointee of former President Bill Clinton, also has presided over a case that involves former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn. The judge chided Flynn on Tuesday for lying to federal authorities and unexpectedly delayed a related sentencing.

The Justice Department on Tuesday swiftly filed a motion to stay a broad application of the ruling while it decides whether to appeal the order.

“Should this court’s decision not hold up on appeal, it would result in changing and confusing alterations of the policies needed to screen tens of thousands of aliens arriving at our borders,” the department argued.

A DOJ spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The asylum case, filed in August, was brought by 12 adults and children who claimed to have experienced sexual abuse, kidnappings and beatings in their home countries. Federal asylum officers denied their credible fear claims based on the Sessions decision, known as “Matter of A-B-.”

Sullivan called the new standards “arbitrary” and “capricious,” and ruled that they violated federal regulatory law in addition to immigration statutes.

The federal judge also ordered the Trump administration to provide new credible fear hearings for the plaintiffs. In a related order, Sullivan demanded that deported plaintiffs be brought back to the United States at no expense to themselves.

The plaintiffs are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, an organization housed at the University of California Hastings.

Eunice Lee, co-legal director of the latter group, said in a written statement that the ruling “ensures that our asylum system remains open to refugees at our border, including those fleeing domestic violence and gang violence.“

The number of families arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border has risen to the highest levels on record in recent months. In November, more than 25,000 family members were intercepted at the border, a phenomenon the Trump administration argues is spurred on by the ability to seek asylum in the U.S.

Trump issued a proclamation last month that sought to block migrants who cross the border between ports of entry from seeking asylum, but a federal judge temporarily froze the policy less than two weeks later.