US immigration officers accused of refusing parole for asylum seekers
Source: The Guardian
US immigration officers accused of refusing parole for asylum seekers
Detainees and their lawyers say five field offices are issuing blanket denials for humanitarian parole, violating a court order
Robert Moore in El Paso
Wed 22 Aug 2018 10.00 BST
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officers are ignoring a court order that says they must end a practice of blanket refusal to allow asylum seekers to go free while courts decide their fate, several detainees and their lawyers say.
US district judge James E Boasberg of Washington DC, issued an injunction in July that said Ice must decide whether to grant humanitarian parole to asylum seekers by examining each individual case, in response to a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union earlier this year.
Before the Trump administration, more than 90% of people who applied for asylum at US ports of entry were granted parole, which allowed them to live and work in the United States while their request was considered.
But at five Ice field offices covered by the ACLU lawsuit, virtually no paroles were granted after Trump took office, even though administration officials said there had been no change in parole policy, lawyers said.
Linda Corchado, an immigration attorney in El Paso, said all 349 parole requests made to that citys Ice field office between February and September 2017 were denied. Despite the court order, she said her clients continue to be denied parole, without any individual explanation.
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Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/22/ice-us-immigration-officers-accused-of-refusing-parole-for-asylum-seekers