I have a client I met back in Artesia in July 2014. She and her children were detained for six months for seeking asylum in the US. Before attorneys got to Artesia, she was told she didn't pass her credible fear screening and wouldn't be able to apply for asylum.
She saw an immigration judge to have that decision reviewed. I represented her at that hearing, but was not allowed to speak on her behalf. We presented written evidence on her behalf but the judge would not read it.
The judge agreed with the asylum office that she could not seek asylum and she was ordered removed. Right before she was put on a plane back to Honduras, the judge decided to read my evidence. He agreed with my argument and reopened the case himself and allowed her to apply.
She applied for asylum and was bonded out of family detention six months later when the government was forced to stop arguing that she and her children were a threat to national security.
She finally had an asylum hearing in April 2018. The new judge didn't make a decision on the day of her hearing, but set her for another hearing in December to get a decision.
In December 2018, she and her children were granted asylum. The government did not appeal. They waited four years. They were told they couldn't apply. They were told they wouldn't qualify. They were detained for 6 months in an inhumane camp in the middle of the desert.
They were denied access to counsel for months before they met me. They were detained, sick, scared, confused...all while mourning their husband/father who was brutally murdered right before they fled to the US.
But now they have asylum. They go to school. They have a safe place to live and sleep. They don't need to worry about a gang member showing up in the dead of night to murder them. They can laugh and live and be happy.
So when Trump and his fellow racist, xenophobes tell you that none of the people coming here will qualify for asylum, remember this story. The force of the US government tried to break my clients but they prevailed. They are the strongest people I have ever met. #AsylumSeekers
The Ninth Circuit has now acknowledged the fundamental flaws in the credible fear process and held that asylum seekers can seek federal court review of these decisions. It is good news, but there is a long way to go. immigrationimpact.com/2019/03/11/asy…
