IMMEDIATE RELEASE – No More Bond for Asylum Seekers.
The Trump administration on Tuesday, April 16, 2019, took another significant step to discourage migrants from seeking asylum, issuing an order that could keep thousands of asylum seekers in jail indefinitely while they wait for resolving their asylum requests.
The decision follows a decision by a federal judge in Seattle who ordered the government to provide prompt bond hearings with basic procedural protections to these same individuals. The court gave the government until May 6, 2019, to implement that order. The case is Padilla v. ICE.
The order attempted to deliver on President Trump’s promise to end the “catch and release” of migrants crossing the border hoping to escape persecution in their home countries.
Attorney General William Barr ruled that individuals with valid protection asylum claims who entered between ports of entry no longer are eligible for release on bond by an immigration judge. The decision could unnecessarily detain thousands of more individuals each year, despite the enormous financial and human costs.
A migrant seeking asylum could still ask the Department of Homeland Security to be released under a grant of parole, but that is entirely at the discretion of the department, which under Mr. Trump has sharply cut back on such releases. Attorney General William Barr delayed implementation of his decision for 90 days to allow DHS to conduct operational planning for additional detention space and parole decisions.
For information on bonds, parole, and asylum applications, please visit our website at www.lawschell.com, or call the Law Offices of Norka M. Schell, LLC at (212) 258-0713.