Thread by @matt_cam

Just had to file my first application for an ICE detainee who entered the US after 7/16/19 & is now barred from #asylum (but still technically eligible for lesser forms of protection) under new Trump rule.

Said it before, but again: this is illegal, & it will get people killed.

The case will now be reviewed for a 51% chance of persecution rather than 10%. (Yes, the law really does reduce these life & death cases to betting odds.) Being barred from #asylum also means no chance of truly permanent status or pathway to citizenship.

All very much the intent

FYI my client presented near the Texas border seeking asylum & was immediately detained and flown to a county jail in Plymouth, Mass to await review by an #immigrationcourt.

You may have heard nativists talk about the "high costs of illegal immigration" ? This is the biggest one

Release on an ankle bracelet to his family in TX would have cost taxpayers next to nothing compared to the unbelievable expense of moving him from the southern border to within a few hundred miles of Canada & locking him up for 7 months. "High costs" are what you make them.

Even worse: he & his wife came together after both having suffered persecution in their home country for political reasons. They were immediately separated, and she will have to litigate her own case in an #immigrationcourt in Missisippi

In short:

-strong #asylum case kneecapped by cruel & illegal Trump rule

-innocent family separated/transported/detained at extreme taxpayer expense

-joint case is now two separate detained proceedings in different courts, w/very real possibility that one prevails & one doesn't

Despite all that, I remain positive about the case. This is mostly bc they had the foresight to scan all of their evidence before leaving & email it to family in the US. (This is usually the most difficult part of proving a case in already-difficult detained asylum proceedings)