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WASHINGTON – The Trump administration on Tuesday took another drastic step to deter migrants from seeking asylum by making an order that could keep thousands of people in jail for an indefinite period pending the settlement of their case. request for asylum.
In order to keep President Trump's promise to end "capture and liberation" at the border, Attorney General William P. Barr's order has instructed immigration judges to no longer allow certain migrants who have requested asylum to obtain a bond.
The order will only come into effect in 90 days and it is certain that his case will be challenged in federal court. But lawyers specializing in the defense of immigrants' rights said it could seriously undermine the human rights of people seeking security in the United States.
"They want to send a message informing you that you will be detained," said Judy Rabinovitz, assistant director of the Immigrant Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union. "It's really obscene. We are talking about people fleeing for their lives, seeking safety. And our answer is just to lock them up.
For more than ten years, migrants considered to have "a credible fear" of the persecution in their home country have been allowed to apply for a bail hearing in order to be released on bail pending their arrest. The asylum is heard, sometimes months or years later.
This month, a federal judge in Washington asserted the rights of people applying for asylum in good faith, saying that they should have the opportunity to apply for bail within seven days following their request.
But Mr. Barr's order came in a case involving an Indian who had crossed Mexico to the United States and applied for asylum. Mr Barr, exercising his authority as a senior official in charge of supervising immigration courts, said that migrants in similar cases were not entitled to bail.
Such an immigrant, "after establishing a credible fear of persecution or torture, can not be released on bail," Barr wrote in his order, which quashes a previous case of the US Patent Appeal Board. Immigration dating from 2005.
A migrant seeking asylum may still ask the Department of Homeland Security to be released under a conditional release, but this remains entirely at the discretion of the department that under Mr. Trump, has significantly reduced parole.
Barr's decision does not affect migrants seeking asylum at one of the two dozen points of entry along the border with Mexico. This concerns people apprehended after their illegal arrival in the United States in the vast rural areas of the border.
Barr's order is the Trump administration's latest effort to reduce the number of immigrants able to protect themselves from violence, poverty and gangs by seeking legal status in the United States.
In a recent election campaign, Trump said that some asylum applications were a "big job" and that lawyers wanting to assert their claims met with migrants at the border. Preventing the next wave of repression, the president said, "I do not play games."
Mr. Trump has reduced the number of refugees that can be accepted each year. It slowed the processing of asylum applications at entry points. And he ordered that some asylum seekers be required to wait in Mexico, rather than in the United States, while their case is heard.
Officials said the goal of the hard line was to deter migrants from trying to come to the United States in the first place. But the administration's policies – some of which have been blocked in court – have failed to stem the tide of arrivals in recent months.
An influx of migrants from Central America, many of whom are families traveling with young children, has submerged patrol borders and other authorities of communities along the southwestern border. The facilities for detaining illegal immigrants are well beyond their capacity, forcing the authorities to release some immigrants shortly after their arrest.
Barr's decision could worsen the overcrowding crisis in immigration detention centers by forcing judges to keep asylum seekers in prison longer. In his Tuesday order, Mr. Barr seemed to acknowledge the reality of the crisis in the space of detention.
"I will postpone the date of entry into force of this 90-day decision so that D.H.S. can carry out the operational planning necessary for further decisions on detention and parole, "Barr wrote in an 11-page order, which was released Tuesday night.
Mr. Barr's decision does not affect unaccompanied children or families who enter the United States illegally. A long-standing settlement in a previous court case states that the government can not detain children or families for more than 20 days.
But immigrant rights lawyers have said Barr's decision – if it comes into effect – could set a precedent the government could use to deny bail hearings and bail bonds for a number of people. largest of immigrants.
"That's what Trump's mantra is: Stop fishing," said Rabinowitz. "What does it mean, they are human beings, we are not talking about a game of cat and mouse."
Ms. Rabinowitz and other immigration lawyers have stated that they intend to promptly challenge Mr. Barr's order in federal court by asking the judge in charge of the case in the case. Washington State to expand its decision to prevent the application of this order.
The lawyers said they could be in court as early as Wednesday to challenge the Attorney General's decision.
The Department of Justice declined to comment beyond the text of Mr. Barr's decision.
Since immigration courts are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, not the judiciary, the Attorney General has the power to refer cases to himself and annul decisions. Last October, less than a month before he was expelled from the administration, Attorney General Jeff Sessions asked to review the case, known as "Matter of M- S- ", to determine whether immigrants with credible asylum applications should be able to post bail and enter the United States.
Just months before seizing the case, Mr. Sessions had overturned another decision of the Immigration Appeals Court and made it harder for asylum seekers to victims of family violence or gangs.
Barr's decision is an indication that the crackdown on immigration remains a top priority despite the departure of Mr. Sessions, a staunch advocate for more stringent immigration laws for more than two decades.
Mr Barr, who was confirmed in February, has decided that "under the law, immigrants with pending asylum applications must be arrested – a decision that overturned the decision on the subject". 39, calls for immigration in a case called "The question of the case X- K-".
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