A federal judge ordered a preliminary injunction earlier this week blocking the blanket detention of asylum seekers with persecution claims at five locations within the United States: Detroit, El Paso, Los Angeles, Newark and Philadelphia. The injunction covers over 1,000 asylum seekers who have been jailed for months or even years without individualized case reviews and orders their immediate release or the granting of hearings on their behalf. The law suit was filed by the ACLU and the Covington and Burling Law Firm. The ACLU has noted that detention rates at the offices noted above surged to 96 percent in the first eight months after President Trump took office in 2017, up from less than 10 percent in 2013.
More Resources:
U.S. judge blocks Trump crackdown on asylum seekers, bars blanket detentions of those with persecution claims, Washington Post, July 2, 2018.
ACLU Press Release: Federal Court Blocks Trump Administration’s Arbitrary Detention of Asylum Seekers, July, 2, 2018
Justia Dockets & Filings: Damus et al. v. Nielsen et al.
Memorandum Opinion re 33 Order on Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Motion for Class Certification, July 2, 2018
